


A Beauty can also be a Beast

by LadyHolmesOf221BBakerStreet



Series: Harry Potter Tales [1]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: A lot of sex, Alpha Hermione Granger, Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, F/M, Future Fic, Hermione and Ron are only friends, Oral Sex, Plot Twists, Post-Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Rough Sex, Semi-Public Sex, Torture, True Mates, Werewolf Hermione Granger, Werewolves, Wolf Pack, but that comes later
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-05-01
Updated: 2019-09-10
Packaged: 2020-02-10 16:49:38
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 8
Words: 68,276
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18664414
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LadyHolmesOf221BBakerStreet/pseuds/LadyHolmesOf221BBakerStreet
Summary: Ten years have passed since the final battle and Hermione has changed with it. She has a new home and a new life away from London. Unfortunately, her new world is tilted on its axis with the return of her two best friends and the discovery that a deranged werewolf is out for her. Slightly OOC Hermione. Werewolf! Hermione, Mate! Sirius





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Sooo, I figured, why not try my luck at a HP fic? I mean, it's what originally started me on this site and I can't believe I've never tried to write one before. Wait, that's a lie. I have tried to write them; I've just never been happy enough to post them. I'm unsure about this one too but out of all the ones I've written, I like this one the most.
> 
> Now, Hermione will probably be OOC, though, I've tried to keep her as close to her character as possible but please keep in mind that my story takes place ten years after the final battle and a lot has changed in Hermione's life. She's still struggling with PTSD and to top it all off, she's a Werewolf. I'm on a creature fix at the moment, hence Hermione being a Werewolf. Sorry if that bothers anyone but it's not like I'm forcing you to read this, now is it?
> 
> This is a Sirius/Hermione pairing with side pairings that include Harry/Ginny, Ron/Lavender, George/Angelina, Charlie/OC, Neville/OC, Fred/OC, and Remus/Tonks. This story will include Werewolves, the Veil, True Mates, Potentials, the consequences of suppressed magic, etc. There will be violence, death, and adult themes so if you aren't old enough for that then you should probably find another fic to read.
> 
> However, for anyone interested in giving this fic a go I say, hello! Welcome. I really do hope you enjoy it. And, I don't own anything save the plot and any OC's I might create, all other rights belong to Rowling.
> 
> Summary: Ten years have passed since the final battle was won and everything has changed for Hermione. She has a new home and a new family but her world is once more tilted on its axis when her two best friends appear in her life once more. With the threat of Greyback looming over her head and a missing pack member, Hermione must return to London and face the life she left behind. Things only become more complicated now that Hermione had begun dreaming about her mate, whom she soon discovers is tightly connected to the Veil. Struggling to control her magic and her PTSD, Hermione not only has to battle her inner demons but her outer ones as well and there's a big chance she might not make it out of the battle this time.

Ten years. It had been ten years since the 'Final Battle' had been 'won'. Ten years since they had buried their loved ones on the once beautiful and pristine grounds of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Ten long years since they had lost friends, families, and allies. Ten years since Lavender Brown had been mauled by Fenrir Greyback and saved by Hermione Granger. Since Harry Potter had defeated Voldemort and the Malfoy's had 'defected' to the light side. Ten years since a large number of Death Eaters; Greyback, Dolohov, and Bellatrix amongst them, had escaped, vowing to avenge their fallen leader and finish that which he had started.

Ten years since Hermione Granger had vanished from the wizarding world without a trace.

She hadn't stayed for the funerals, only sticking around long enough to help Madame Pomfrey attend to the wounded. The year spent on the run with the boys had made Hermione very adept at all manner of healing spells. She had avoided Fred's body like the plague; unable to look upon his lifeless body. Besides, Harry and the Weasley's had been with him last she had seen and Hermione had believed herself to be intruding on a moment that was solely for family only.

Hermione had made her way back out onto the grounds once more, helping to search the copious amounts of bodies for anyone who might have miraculously survived. Instead, she had ended up comforting an old enemy, allowing Pansy Parkinson to sob on her shoulder as the corpse of her mother was moved into the castle with all the other bodies.

Hermione could remember feeling sick to her stomach when she had found her childhood bully slumped over her mother's lifeless body, screaming for her to wake up, a silver Death Eater mask thrown hap hazardously aside and the black robes singed and soaked in blood. Hermione had allowed Pansy to beat against her already battered and bruised body; allowed her to scream at her until the girl had simply collapsed into Hermione's arms, begging the other girl to bring her mother back. They weren't friends, but at that moment, they hadn't been enemies either.

For ten years, Hermione had cut off all contact with the wizarding world and anyone in it. She had received multiple owls from Harry, but after sending him the first hastily written letter telling him she just needed to get away from it all, Hermione had stop replying.

She had moved away from London, choosing to settle down in Alaska where the wizarding population was almost non-existent and those that were present barely paid her a second thought. She had created a life for herself and, after almost a decade, had even come to enjoy herself.

Her wand remained untouched, placed carefully in her old Hogwarts trunk, Hermione unable to wield it again after the Final Battle. Even the idea of performing another spell, with or without a wand, had made her nauseous. She had never used an Unforgivable during the battle, but that didn't mean she hadn't killed anyone. And the thought of leaving someone an orphan, perhaps even a student she had been at school with most of her life, made Hermione feel even sicker.

It had taken her two years to even look at one of her DADA textbooks without having a panic attack whenever she read the words  _werewolf_  or  _vampire_ , not when she remembered seeing a few of both species out that night.

_Knock. Knock. Knock._

Hermione withdrew from her sombre thoughts, her head turning away from the frosted window and towards the door of her little cottage. The fire crackled away in the decorative fireplace, casting an ethereal glow around her modest living room and partially lighting her face. The heat warmed her and for a moment, Hermione contemplated not answering the door so that the warmth could remain trapped within the confines of her home.

_Knock. Knock. Knock._

The sound came again, more insistent this time, and Hermione let out a frustrated sigh as she stood from her perch and made her way to the door on unsteady legs. It would seem she had been sitting on them too long as she couldn't properly feel her feet and hand to tightly grip the back of her sofa to keep herself from falling over.

_Knock. Knock. Knock._

"Just a minute!" she exclaimed, moving her feet back and forth in an attempt to get the blood flowing into them properly again. "Bloody hell," she breathed as the numbness gave way to pins and needles.

Hermione quickly limped over to the door, silently cursing each time the familiar pain shot from her feet and up her legs, reminding her why she shouldn't stay seated in any one place for extended periods of time.

The door swung open to reveal a young boy, no older than thirteen, with wide blue eyes and messy blonde hair that was plastered to his face at the moment. A large gust of wind accompanied a spray of water as the open door allowed some of the rain to enter her home. Even with her slightly raised body temperature, Hermione felt goose bumps form across her exposed skin and visibly shivered.

"Tommy?" Hermione questioned, unbelieving that he was standing in her front door with the weather the way it currently was. "What are you doing outside? Quickly," she urged, opening the door further, "out of the rain."

The young boy didn't waste time as he hurried inside, taking care to wipe the bottom of his shoes on the welcome mat before entering her home. "Sorry about just showing up like this, Mia," he apologized, "but mum's gone into labour and she wanted me to ask if you could mind the shop?"

Hermione's eyes widened at the news before she was telling Tommy to take a seat by the fire as she rushed from the room to get dressed. Hermione practically flew into her bedroom, hurriedly throwing on a pair of jeans, a white, long-sleeved thermal shirt and a thick overcoat. She quickly threw her hair into a half-arsed un before she shoved her fluffy sock covered feet into a pair of worn hiking boots.

"Is she at the hospital? Who's watching the store at the moment? Is she doing okay?

Hermione asked rapidly as she and Tommy left her small cottage and began the short trek to the village.

"Mum's watching the shop…"

"What?!" Hermione shrieked, her amber eyes widening as she quickened her pace, "why hasn't she gone to the hospital yet?"

Tommy shrugged his shoulders, much more level-headed than the older woman beside him, "she couldn't find anyone to mind the shop for her," he explained as his mother's bookshop came into view.

Hermione flew into the store, rushing right up to a heavily breathing woman with similar blonde curls to Tommy. "Lisa?" she asked, gently placing her hand on the woman's back and rubbing soothing circles into the cloth covered skin, "is Henry coming to take you to the hospital?"

"He's just gone home to get my birthing bag," she replied with a pinched smile, "he forgot it in his rush over here."

Both women chuckled at that. Henry was Tommy's father and Lisa's husband. He was a shy man built like a tank who was also the gentlest soul you'd ever meet. Tommy had inherited his icy blue eyes and an abundance of freckles. He was a proud father to Tommy and had spoken of nothing but his unborn twins for months now.

"I've got it!" his booming voice suddenly said, the deep baritone slightly squeaky and severely out of breath as he burst through the door.

"Are you sure you don't mind watching the store, Mia?" Lisa asked between contractions, looking at Hermione with no small degree of gratitude.

Hermione smiled, leading the woman over to her husband who nodded his head in thanks as she wrapped his arm around his wife's shoulders. "I've got everything under control and I don't mind in the slightest. But I want pictures the moment you've taken them," she added with a playful scolding tone, "you have my number, right?"

"Sure do," Henry answered, helping Lisa out the door as Tommy trailed behind, anxiety and elation beginning to show on his young face.

After they had left, the store was plunged into silence and Hermione signed as she made her way into the back of the store to put the kettle on. She rubbed her hands together to create warmth as the small heater tried in vain to heat the store. As Hermione went around stacking books, she hummed to herself, the tune a haunting Russian lullaby she had heard one of the Durmstrang students singing during her fourth year. She didn't know what the words meant but she found the eerie melody to be strangely soothing.

As she hummed, Hermione thought about her parents. She had tracked them down after the war only to learn from a neighbour that they had died in a car accident a few months after they had moved in. Their deaths had shocked her to the core. Mental, Hermione had prepared herself for their death's but she had always imagined it would be at the hands of Death Eater's that might have managed to find them. She never even imagined they'd died such a muggle death. She had mourned over their incorrectly named graves before she had sought comfort in the bottom of a bottle of fire whiskey.

Once again, Hermione was drawn from her morose thoughts by the sound of someone entering the store. The little bell above the door alerted her to their presence and Hermione walked around one of the stacks, her mouth opened to welcome them when she saw who it was.

Her lips turned down in a frown as she looked at the middle-aged man standing in front of her. "What do you want, David?" she asked with a heavy sigh.

"Full moon's tonight," he replied, eyeing her knowingly and undeterred by her snappish tone. Hermione bristled at the attention but kept her chin down in a sign of submission. "I've set up the clearing for the night," David continued, "you'll need to be there before the moon rises; same as usual."

"Lisa went into labour and I promised I'd watch the store for her," Hermione protested, unwilling to let David know she had actually forgotten about tonight's full moon. They may be friends but she knew he'd never let her live it down if he found out.

"I've called Kathy," David grunted, his eyes narrowing as he took Hermione in, "she'll be here before nightfall to mind the place."

Kathy was Henry's older sister, a sweet woman who just so happened to be David's wife and mate.

Hermione had been beyond shocked to learn that a small werewolf pack lived in the modest village. She had been hiking in the woods one night, unable to sleep after nightmares of Bellatrix torturing her had left her screaming herself hoarse. She hadn't even paid attention to the full moon that night, naïve enough to think there couldn't possibly be any magical creatures in the village she had chosen to reside in.

It had been one of the younger wolves; a teenage boy that had just come into his werewolf genes and was experiencing the shift for the first time. The older wolves had had their hands full with a bunch of younger wolves and he had managed to slip out of the clearing they used for the full moons. He had found her and Hermione had been unable to get away from him.

She could still remember the absolute fear she had felt when she had spied the fully transformed werewolf, her mind flooding with images of a semi-transformed Greyback leaning over the body of Lavender brown as he tore into the younger girl's throat. Her body had physically recoiled when she had drawn his attention and had seen him sniffing the air. He had done something very similar when the Snatchers had caught them moments before they had been apparated to Malfoy Manor.

Greyback had almost begged for Bellatrix to hand her over to him, Hermione vaguely hearing the words Potential and rare being mentioned in the conversation before all she could focus on was the mind-numbing pain.

The young wolf, Andrew she had come to learn his name was, had tackled Hermione to the ground and had managed to take a large bite out of her before David had tackled him. Somehow, the wolves of David's pack had learnt to control their wolves without the use of Wolfsbane.

He had said it had helped to be in the pack, each member drawing strength from the next and helping each other with their transitions. Apart from the werewolves who had yet to reach full maturity, Hermione was the only unmated member of the pack. David had even taken the time out of his busy life to explain to her what Potentials were when she had finally stopped freaking out about everything that had happened.

_"A Potential is a person, wolf or not, that can be mated to any werewolf without actually being their True Mate,"_  he had told her.  _"They can still have a True Mate, but if they never found them and decided they wished to be mated, they could easily find a suitable candidate. Their scent calls to unmated werewolves."_

He had gone on to explain to her how Potentials could even have multiple mates and Hermione had promptly started freaking out again. The fact that she was now a werewolf only made her  _scent_ stronger; the only thing stronger being the scent of another werewolf's  _True Mate_. There was another Potential amongst their group, a sixteen-year-old boy named Holland. David had ordered that both Hermione and Holland weren't to be pressured by any other member of their pack; past, present, or future.

Hermione had locked herself away in her cabin for the whole month after she had been bitten. She barely ate, she barely slept, she barely moved. It was only when David had literally kicked her door down and given her a direct order to start taking care of herself that Hermione had started to get better. For the whole six months she had previously been living in the village prior to her attack, she had only truly met David when he had broken into her house.

David had been surprised to learn that the newest member of his pack was not only a witch but a war veteran. Both he and Andrew had apologised for the events of that night before David had sat her down and given her the rundown of how her life was going to be from then on out.

Everything she had learned had been so wrong. She had believed that the lycanthropy was uncontrollable, but David's pack could partially transform at will and managed to keep most of their senses on the full moon. She had known about mates but she hadn't been aware of Potentials and just how seriously mates were taken in a pack. A lot of the members of David's pack had come from all over the globe in search of a place where they could be accepted; muggles who had been bitten and natural born werewolves made up their group. Their mates travelled with them, finding work amongst the villagers and taking the bite when, and if, they chose to.

"You forgot, didn't you?"

Hermione jumped at the sound of David speaking, mentally cursing herself for zoning out. Again. She had been doing that a lot lately, finding herself becoming completely oblivious to her surroundings as she became lost in thought.

"Of course not," she huffed. David sent her a raised eyebrow and Hermione pouted, "maybe… a little." She could feel her face flush with embarrassment and glared up at her Alpha when he chuckled, "it's not funny."

"I think you'll find,  _Mia_ ," he began, rolling her pseudo name around on his tongue, "that if our situations were reversed, you'd find it quite amusing too."

Hermione only grunted as she moved back to the stacks she had been organising when David had walked in. "So, something peculiar found its way to my home this morning," David began, following Hermione into the stacks, his head cocked slightly as he studied the brunette in front of him.

"Really?" Hermione answered, not really paying that much attention as she placed a few books back on the shelf in their correct location. The smell of old and new books perforated the air, assaulting Hermione's senses along with the thick layer of dust that layered the top of the bookshelves; Lisa too short and too pregnant to actually reach them so they could be cleaned.

She vaguely heard the sound of paper crumbling and fabric shifting before a small white envelope was being shoved into her face by the older wolf. "An owl was sitting at my kitchen window this morning and seemed determined not to leave until I took this from it," David explained as Hermione's eyes widened when they landed on her name written in a neat scrawl she didn't really recognise.

"It's one of them witch friends of yours, yeah?" he questioned her, waving the letter in front of her before snatching it away as she went to reach for it.

Hermione growled lowly at him, her temper on the fritz due to the full moon, only to bow her head and whimper in submission when his eyes flashed gold and a deep growl left his own lips. David was a lenient Alpha but he wouldn't allow disrespect directed at him or any of his pack members. "I don't recognise the handwriting," she answered him sourly, turning back to the bookshelf as she tried to forget about the stupid letter.

_"Hermione,"_  David began, clearing his throat,  _"I know Harry and Ron stopped writing to you a few months ago and figured I would give it a try. It's Lavender, by the way, Lavender Brown."_

Hermione almost tackled David in her attempt to take the letter from him, the older man wrapping a strong arm around her waist as he held the letter away from his body and out of her reach. Hermione was confused about why Lavender Brown of all people was writing to her, but she ignored her curiosity in favour of trying to get the letter off of David.

"David!" she scolded, struggling against his hold as her eyes flashed and she tried to reach the small piece of parchment.

_"Everyone misses you here,"_  David continued as if he wasn't trying to hold her back,  _"and I thought you'd like to know… Bellatrix is dead…"_

Hermione froze as David read the words, her heart beat increased even as a cold chill ran down the length of her body. A burning fire seemed to radiate from her scarred arm as it always did at the mention or thought of the witch who had tortured her. Bellatrix had managed to flee the final battle after threatening to end Ginny's life when the younger girl had managed to land a slicing curse on the deranged woman. Hermione _still_  had nightmares of the disturbed witch finding her and torturing her again.

_"She tried to attack Ginny when she and Mrs Weasley had visited Diagon Alley. You should have seen Molly, I've never seen her so furious. Bellatrix didn't even see the two curses that Molly sent her way."_

Even though she was surprised at the news that it had been Molly that had ended Bellatrix's life, Hermione felt like a weight had been lifted from her heart. Unfortunately, this didn't stop the icy claws of panic that gripped tightly at her chest. Flashes of black curls and the remnants of a high-pitched cackle permeated the air. Pain. All she had felt was pain; pain and  _fear_. Fear so deep it still clung to her bones all these years later. Her chest seized and suddenly Hermione couldn't breathe.

Her eyes were glazed, tears burning their way down her rapidly paling cheeks, as she tried to draw in air. She felt her knees buckle and David's hold on her tighten. His deep growl rumbled through her ear, David well aware of just who Bellatrix Lestrange was and the past Hermione shared with her. She had, after all, told him everything.

"I'm sorry, Hermione," he breathed into her hair, smelling her distress and relief as it rolled off of her in waves, "I shouldn't have read it."

Hermione shook her head against his chest, his scent helping to calm her enough to get words out. "It's fine," she mumbled, "c-can you finish it? P-please?"

She felt him nod, his grip on her unchanging as he lifted the letter to continue.  _"That's not the only reason I'm writing to you, Hermione. The main reason for this letter is to warn you. No one wanted to tell you but I think you deserve to be informed…"_

Hermione felt David growl lowly and looked up to see his eyes flashing a brilliant gold as he glared fiercely at the letter. "What is it?" she asked hesitantly.

_"…he's coming for you, Hermione. Greyback is coming for you and he won't stop until he's found you."_

Once again fear gripped her, but Hermione forced it down as her Alpha continued to read, his own body shaking and his voice an octave lower as his temper rose.

_"We received word that he's become obsessed with you; something about your scent. I'm writing this because you need to be prepared. You saved my life that night and I can never return the favour, but I can do the right thing and warn you that you're in danger._

_"Please, Hermione, come home where we can keep you safe,"_  Lavender practically begged in the letter, _"come home so we can keep you far from Greyback. Lavender."_

Hermione hadn't realised she had begun crying again until David was wiping away the salty tears that fell down her cheeks. His grey eyes were serious and concerned as they gazed down at her. "I won't let him hurt you, Hermione," he promised, his voice a snarl as he thought about the danger his beta was in. Magical or not,  _every_  werewolf knew who Fenrir Greyback was, and David knew what would become of Hermione if Greyback ever got his claws on her.

"What if, by being here, I'm putting the pack in danger, David?" she asked him sadly, "Greyback won't hesitate to kill everyone in the village to get to me," she continued as she reluctantly pulled away from his embrace so she could make her way into the back of the store where the kettle had long since been forgotten.

She turned on the small appliance with a shaky sigh, silently wishing she could return to her cottage and bury herself under her blankets so she could hide away from the world. Hermione almost whimpered when she realised all the emotions, she was attempting to push down would come back three-fold tonight when the moon was out. She had already been feeling the small slips on her control that accompanied every shift, her wolf growling restlessly as she itched to stretch her limbs.

Hermione clamped down on the restless stirring and turned her focus back to making a cup of chamomile and lavender tea.

"We won't let that happen," David assured her, following her into the small kitchen that barely housed her small frame let alone his large one, as a frown marred his face.

"Greyback is the strongest and oldest werewolf in the world," Hermione groaned, rubbing the bridge of her nose as she felt a headache coming on. She just wanted to run; run until she couldn't run anymore and just keep running. "His magic only makes him more dangerous," she continued heavily, "maybe it's best if I leave; I can't hide from him forever but I can make sure he never gets anywhere near the pack…"

Rough, calloused hands gently gripping her shoulders cut off her rambling as she was turned so she faced a broad chest. David had well over a good foot on five feet and four inches and Hermione was forced to look up when he paced a hand under her chin and lifted it so their eyes met.

"That's never going to happen, Hermione," he said deeply, "you're not going anywhere, do you understand me? I won't allow you to run from another home, especially after the progress you've made here. Besides, we have something Greyback hasn't. We've got a pack bond. Each and every one of us would lay down our lives to keep one another safe," David told her passionately, truth ringing behind every word, "Greyback may have a pack but it's a pack built on fear, and fear can only get you so far in situations like ours," he replied softly, his eyes searching hers for something. He apparently found it, because the next moment he was pulling Hermione into his chest, his arms wrapping around her in a tight embrace.

Hermione breathed in the scent of her Alpha, a familiar, earthy aroma that never failed to make her feel safe. It had taken her a while to get used to the assault on her senses that came with being a werewolf but when she had, she had managed to find comfort in certain smells.

Her body wash, for instance, smelt of vanilla and cinnamon; the smell always reminding her of when she would spend Christmas at the Burrow. Her shampoo smelt of strawberries, a scent that reminded her of the strawberry patch her mother used to grow in the back yard. Then there was the familiar earthy aroma that seemed to linger on every werewolf in their pack. Marcus, before he had found his mate, had told her that being a Potential meant she also smelt faintly of something each werewolf found comforting. This smell was obviously stronger with their True Mate which is how they managed to differentiate.

David smelt of whiskey, cologne, and the earth, a heady aroma she had grown accustomed to over the years.

"It's okay to miss that life, Hermione," David continued, rubbing soothing circles into her back. Hermione didn't know how, but he always had the uncanny ability to know when more than one thing was bothering you. She was missing her family; she had been more and more for months now. It was like there was an invisible rope tugging on her chest, trying to tell her to return to London; trying to tell her she'd find what she was looking for there. But she didn't know what she was looking for. David's hold on her tightened as if he sensed her thoughts, "those people… those  _places_ … they're a big part of who you are. Why don't you talk to them? Go see them?"

"I was going to," Hermione mumbled into his chest, burying her nose into his shirt as one of his hands moved to stroke her slightly frizzy curls. Hermione listened to the sound of his steadily beating heart, trying to get hers to match his as she continued, "I was going to return to them after a year away; after I had managed to deal with everything that had happened."

"Why didn't you then?"

"Because even after a year, I wasn't her anymore. I wasn't Hermione Granger, one-third of the Golden Trio. I was fragmented, with pieces here and there missing. Like an incomplete puzzle," she explained. She sighed, looking up into his grey eyes again. "Because of this," she continued, flashing her golden eyes, "because I didn't know if I could control myself around them and I'd never forgive myself if I ever hurt one of them."

"You've gotten a lot better than how you were when you first joined the pack, Hermione," David replied, "and you got control over your wolf six years ago."

"And I found a pack," she stated simply, "pack is family, and I've lost enough people in my life, I wasn't going to lose all of you too."

She felt David sigh, "but what did you give up for the pack, Hermione? Your best friends? A bright future?"

"I just… wait a minute," she stood back, "have you been reading my books again?"

David grinned cheekily before he let go of Hermione completely and strode out of the room.

"David!" Hermione called after him, rushing out after him only to see him disappear out of the door. She huffed angrily, her hands resting on her hips before she threw them into the air with an affectionate and exasperated smile before she made her way back into the small room connected to the store so she could finish her tea.

* * *

Kathy arrived precisely one hour before sunset, her cheeks and nose flushed from the cold. The older woman, who was in her mid-forties, was absolutely gorgeous. Long, fine, red hair was thrown into a messy ponytail that still managed to reach the small of her back. Her skin was light and creamy and a small smackering of freckles dusted her nose. Her warm, honey eyes shone with kindness and mischief and her lips seemed to be turned up in a permanent smile or smirk.

When Hermione had first met the woman, she had been quite aloof. The fact that the red hair and the mischievous smile only reminded her of the twins made it especially hard for Hermione to be in the same room as the woman for any extended amount of time. When David had confronted her about it, Kathy thinking she had done something to offend Hermione, the younger woman had been forced to explain everything. Kathy had understood completely, but instead of avoiding Hermione, she came over more frequently, knowing that in some weird way, Hermione found comfort in her appearance as well.

"Hello, Hermione," she greeted, one of the few to know her real name. As the mate of her Alpha, Hermione knew David wouldn't have been able to keep her identity a secret from Kathy. All of the non-wolf mates knew who she was, but they kept her secret from those who weren't pack.

"Good evening, Kathy, how's Lisa?" Hermione replied, giving the older woman a hug?

Kathy smiled softly, "almost fully dilated, the poor dear, she was swearing up a storm when I left." The women shared a chuckle before Kathy was hurrying Hermione from the store, "off you go now, dear," she said, "best not to keep my stubborn husband waiting."

"No," Hermione muttered good-naturedly, "we couldn't have that, now could we?"

The trek through the woods was over quickly, Hermione capable of taking the trip in her sleep if need be. She broke through the trees and entered a small clearing filled with a dozen other people. Four of those twelve were teenagers who were roughhousing at the furthest corner of the clearing; laughing as they were tackled to the ground before they quickly gained the upper hand. The other eight were the older pack members, Hermione included, ranging from twenty to well over a hundred thanks to werewolf longevity.

Hermione's eyes quickly fell on David and his second in command, Marcus. Marcus was the eldest of the pack and one of the last to find his mate. Sophie, a fiery fifty-three-year-old werewolf, had stumbled upon Marcus' scent a few months earlier. She had come to Alaska when she had heard word of a werewolf pack there.

Marcus and David were talking in hushed tones, occasionally throwing looks around the clearing before their eyes landed on her. David threw her a smile before drawing his attention back to the older werewolf and Hermione shrugged her shoulders. She made her way over to the small group of teens and leaned against the trunk of a tree as she watched them spar.

Contrary to what others believed, children born to werewolves weren't entirely immune to it. When they hit puberty, some would inherit wolfish qualities and others would actually begin their transformations. Regardless of age, the transformations were unpleasant, but David had taught them a way to make it as quick as possible. The teenagers before her had yet to learn to become one with their wolves and when the moon rose in less than an hour, they would be lost to their wolves. It would then be the responsibility of the pack to make sure none of them left the clearing until they were back in their human forms.

"Do you want a go, Hermione?" asked one of the teens, Logan, looking up at her through his dark bangs. Even in human form, Logan resembled a puppy. He had brown eyes framed by thick lashes and a mop of brown curls that fell over his face.

"I'm fine, pup," she nodded, not leaving her spot against the tree, "perhaps another night?"

Logan merely shrugged before he was roughly tackled by Caleb, the most recent to go through the change. This full moon would only be Caleb's third and if that wasn't bad enough, his wolf had a bigger temper than his human half did. Caleb would often times get into fights with members of the pack, determined to show dominance over the other betas. David had tried to show him a calmer path but the teen boy seemed reluctant to quell his temper.

Hermione was happy to watch the youngest of their pack play. Time went by quickly and soon enough, David was calling for them to prepare themselves.

She made her way over to her own secluded area and began removing her clothes. Hermione had long since gotten over her shyness when it came to being naked around the pack but chose to undress in private whenever a new member was introduced. Whilst he was pack and pack was family, Caleb would attempt to leer at her body more often than she was comfortable with.

She removed her top, revealing the scarred remains of Andrew's bite on her shoulder and a few more scattered scars from her first few transformations.  _Mudblood_ was still as visible on her arm as it had been the day it was carved into her skin and so was the cut on her neck from when Bellatrix had used her as a scare tactic for the boys. The purple markings from the curse Dolohov had sent at her at the end of fifth year contrasted sharply with her creamy skin and had garnered quite a bit of attention from the pack. So much so, that David had asked her one night is she would be willing to share her story with them. It had taken her a couple of years and an entire bottle of whiskey, but eventually, she did so.

They all had scars in one way or another, each one telling the story about a struggle they had faced in life. The pack had helped Hermione come to terms with her own past and as a result, her PTSD had gotten progressively better as the years passed by. She still suffered from the occasional nightmare and certain sounds still managed to set off her panic attacks but David had assured her that  _any progress_  was  _good progress._

The scars weren't the only thing showcased on her body, however. Hermione, in a bout of recklessness, had even gotten a tattoo. David had snorted when she had proudly shown him the wolf howling at a full moon that took up the entire left side of her torso. The wolf was coloured a deep chestnut to reflect her own wolf form, the eyes a piercing golden hue to match her own. It was a physical representation of her wolf and had made both halves of herself feel closer somehow.

A large hand on her shoulder had Hermione turning to look at David, "Marcus and I want to speak to you in the morning, think you'll be up to it?" he asked her, his eyes never wavering from her own. Hermione nodded and David grinned, "good, because you're responsible for Caleb tonight."

Hermione bit her tongue to keep from groaning as she allowed the information to sink in. Her eyes trailed away from David and to the teen sitting off from the rest of the pack, his eyes narrowed at a spot on the ground as he sat on a patch of grass. "Okay," she muttered.

"You've got this," David assured her.

"He rarely listens to anyone but you, David," she mumbled, "and he's a volatile wolf."

David sighed, "he just needs guidance and a level head, someone stubborn enough not to give up on him." David winked at her, "and I've never met anyone quite as stubborn as you, Hermione."

She slapped his bare chest playfully before they turned and David addressed the whole pack. He informed everyone of what would be happening that night and which wolves were in charge of the youngest of their pack. Caleb's head shot up and his gaze had landed on Hermione when he had heard she would be watching out for him. She heard him grumble a few choice curses under his breath before his head shot back to the ground and he glared at a nearby cluster of rocks.

When the moon was high, the transformation began. Hermione groaned as the familiar pain of her bones reforming spread throughout her body like a wildfire. Bit by bit, her body sprouted chestnut fur, her face elongated, and her canines grew and sharpened. Twenty minutes later and a full-grown wolf stood in place of the woman.

Hermione allowed herself a moment to gather her bearings, her sight adjusting to that of her wolfs and her ears and nose being assaulted with sounds and smells. She could hear animals running through the trees, trying to get away from the clearing as they sensed the new danger. Her ears twitched as she heard the growls and barks of her pack members before her eyes sought out her charge.

Caleb was smaller than Hermione, mainly due to his young age and the fact he had yet to reach maturity. His black fur and similarly golden eyes made him an intimidating wolf. He was snarling and pacing, anger rolling off of him in waves and Hermione was reminded that he had yet to master control and his wolf was fully in control right now.

She made her way over to him, growling lowly when he snarled at her. Hermione had learnt a long time ago why she shouldn't submit to the younger wolves. David had taken her aside the next morning a couple of years after she had arrived to tell her that if she was going to get any respect from the younger pups of the pack, she would have to show them her dominant side.

Hermione flattened her ears to her head, the hairs on the back of her neck standing on edge as she and Caleb circled each other before Caleb made a lunge for her.

Having expected this, Hermione quickly dodged to the side, watching as Caleb stumbled before righting himself and turning back to her, eyes alight with anger, but also playfulness. His wolf wanted to play with her and Hermione mentally breathed a sigh of relief as her defensive growl turned into a playful yip and she eagerly wagged her tail back and forth before she pounced on the younger wolf.

They roughhoused back and forth for a couple of hours before Caleb fell asleep. Hermione laid next to him, her head resting on her crossed paws as her eyes slowly drifted closed.

* * *

_She was running in her human form; everything around her was in greyscale like all the colours had been drained from the world. Everything looked wrong; distorted. Almost like a mirror image of the world they lived in._

_She was deep within the Ministry of Magic, running down empty halls, her breathing laboured as she searched for something._

_"Help me."_

_The voice was featherlight and familiar, coming from everywhere and yet nowhere. Hermione turned down another corridor, catching a glimpse of a person turning the corner at the end of the hall._

_"Help me, Mia."_

_Only a handful of people in the wizarding world even knew that nickname and hearing it coming from the owner of the voice made her heart speed up to an almost painful pace. Hermione reached the end of the hall where she paused in front of a vaguely familiar door. At the sight of it, her whole body froze and her heart sank with dread._

_Before she could think on it, strong arms wrapped around her waist and pulled her into a hard chest._

_"Help me!"_

* * *

_Pop!_

Hermione and Caleb startled awake at the sudden noise that rung out in the usually quite forest that surrounded them. She could hear the younger wolves snarling and dazedly turned to block Caleb as he made to move forward. Her mind was still slightly foggy, bits and pieces of the dream coming to her in greyscale flashes. A howl of pain drew Hermione's attention to Marcus who had been bitten by Logan as the pup tried to get out of the clearing to investigate the sound. Sophie was backing him into a tree, snarling at him as her head darted from the pup to her mate and back again.

Hermione's momentary distraction was enough for Caleb to bolt into the trees and she caught a flash of tail before he vanished. She went after him immediately but feared that Caleb might find the source of the noise before she could reach him. Caleb wasn't the biggest wolf in their pack by far, but he was the fastest. Every time she thought she would catch him, he managed to get that bit further out of her reach.

The closer they got to the sound of the  _pop!_  the more sounds reached their ears. They were distinctly human, two men and a woman. Hermione couldn't make out exactly what they were saying but that didn't matter. Her mind flashed back to the night Andrew had chased her down and she pushed herself to go faster.

She heard a loud curse and a feminine scream; no doubt Caleb had broken into their line of sight. Hermione was shortly behind him and caught a flash or red and blonde before she was tackling Caleb moments before he tried to pounce on one of the men. She felt his teeth tear into her front leg and howled angrily as she used her muzzle to bat him off.

Hermione got to her paws before she was quickly tackling Caleb again, this time to protect him from a red flash of light. Her golden eyes raised to their attackers, very much aware that she was dealing with wizards before she felt the air leave her lungs. She was staring down the line of a wand, a very familiar wand. Harry's wand.

Another blur entered the small clearing and Hermione turned to see her Alpha growling at the witch and two wizards; Harry, Ron, and Lavender. Hermione placed herself between the two wizards and her Alpha, bowing her head in submission to him whilst using herself as a barrier. She growled lowly at Caleb when she saw the young wolf move closer out of the corner of her eye and the pup wisely kept his distance. She met her Alpha's eyes, silently communicating with him.

He nodded once at her before his eyes met Caleb's and he growled again, this one an order to get back to the clearing. Thankfully, the moon would begin setting any moment now. Her Alpha gave her one last look before he led Caleb into the forest and back to their pack's clearing.

Hermione turned back to the three surprise guests; her best friends and Lavender Brown. The years had certainly been kind to them but now wasn't the time to study them further. Harry still had his wand pointed at her and Hermione battled with her wolf momentarily as it became defensive once more. Ron's wand was at his side, ready to use if Harry needed him.

She took a cautious step towards them and watched as Harry's hand twitched minutely, though, no spell was cast so she took that as a good sign. Hermione continued to take small, measured steps, her ears flattened to her head and her tail tucked between her legs.

"Bloody hell, Harry!" Ron exclaimed, his blue eyes wide as they looked at her, "stun it already."

"I don't think it wants to hurt us, Ron," Harry replied, dropping his wand arm slightly so Hermione could see he meant no real harm.

"Besides," Lavender added, speaking for the first time, "stunning her wouldn't do anything except piss her off."

"What the hell are you talking about, Lav?" Ron questioned.

"She's a werewolf, Ron," Lavender replied, rolling her eyes, the blue irises surrounded by a faintly glowing gold band. She looked up and removed her purple velvet cloak as she watched the moon closely.

"No, she's not," Ron retorted, "werewolves don't look like that, we've seen Remus transformed."

Hermione's inner wolf howled at the mention of Remus, recognising him as pack even though she hadn't been a werewolf when she had last seen him and Tonks.

"Remus fights the wolf," Lavender explained as she took a cautious step towards Hermione. Hermione took a step back, growling involuntarily and seeing Ron stiffen as he took a subconscious step towards Lavender. "This is a werewolf that's embraced their wolf," she continued, stopping a few steps away from Hermione, "the wolf and the human are in control and the shift is both easier and more extensive."

Hermione felt the familiar tingle of her body shifting. She raised her head and saw the moon was slowly disappearing behind the trees. She howled, hearing her pack members do the same; it was their way of sending the moon off, saying goodbye until the next full moon. Corny, but something David had always done since his transformation thirty years earlier.

Her bones reshaped themselves and Hermione heard three sharp inhales of air in front of her as she slowly stood. Transforming back was always faster than when she turned into a wolf but the experience was no less disorientating.

"Hermione?"

She barely had a moment to get her senses in order before she was being crushed to a firm chest. Her arms were awkwardly, and painfully, pressed to her breasts as Harry's familiar black hair invaded her line of sight. Through the messy strands, she could see Ron and Lavender gaping at her. She managed to wiggle her arms free and wrapped them around Harry as she tightened their embrace.

She could feel warm liquid dampening her bare shoulder and heard the muffled sobs of her best friend and brother. Hermione gently shushed him, even as her own eyes watered, her hands clinging to his robes as she tried to pull him closer.

"'Mione?"

Her eyes lifted to Ron's and she smiled hesitantly at him as he took a cautious step forward, unsure how to react after he had just witnessed a werewolf turning into his best friend. Hermione grabbed him and pulled him into their hug, her eyes snapping to Lavender when she heard the younger woman growl lowly. She was blushing when Hermione's eyes landed on her, like she was embarrassed by what she had just done. For a moment, Hermione couldn't figure out why but she chose to come back to it later, too happy that she was seeing her best friends after ten long years.

When they broke apart, Hermione watched as Harry and Ron's eyes looked her over before their faces turned a very deep shade of red and they quickly averted their eyes. She furrowed her eyebrows before she too looked down and realised, she was naked again and no longer had fur covering her body. Harry rubbed his neck awkwardly as Ron whistled, his eyes never leaving the treetops as they both took a small step away from her.

Lavender seemed to find this amusing because Hermione heard her giggle as she stepped forward and offered Hermione her cloak. Hermione gave her a small, grateful smile as she put the cloak on, fastening the clasp and using her hands to keep it closed.

Hermione could hear pained howls and she flinched, knowing it was the pups who had yet to make the transitions faster. They'd be turning human bit by bit for the next hour or so and she didn't want to leave them but she knew they could still be a danger to her friends,

Voice still adjusting to human vocal cords again, Hermione motioned for everyone to follow her. Watching as Harry and Ron stored their wands in their holsters before they went to open their mouths. A warning look from Lavender seemed to shut Ron up and the red-haired man elbowed Harry to get his best friend to follow his actions.

Harry wasn't happy with not being able to get everything off his chest just yet. They had come here in hopes of finding Hermione. Luna Lovegood, now Scamander, had given them a tracking spell that was supposed to take them right to Hermione. Harry thought he had done something wrong when the three of them had landed in the middle of some forest. Now, he wanted to know what the hell had happened in ten years because the woman currently walking in front of them looked like his best friend and yet… didn't.

He could hear Ron grumbling behind him and Lavender's muffled "would you just be quiet!" as they continued to hike through the forest, trying to keep up with Hermione.

They had been walking for twenty minutes when they saw it. A small log cabin on the furthest outskirts of a small village, still hidden by the trees. He watched as Hermione walked up to the door and turned the nob, not needing to unlock it.

"Guess crimes are really low here," he muttered to himself. He heard Hermione snort and his lips twitched as he followed her into the house.

The cottage was modest and yet homely. The first room they entered was the living room lined with bookshelves that were stacked with books. A large, tan sofa sat in the middle of the room with a white, faux fur throw thrown over it. A small, dark wood, coffee table sat in front of the sofa, a long-forgotten cup of tea sitting on its surface. Below the coffee table was a thick, earthy brown shag rug and there was also a modestly sized television sitting in the corner of the room.

By the window was a reading nook, a copy of Wuthering Heights resting innocently on the window sill.

Then there was the fireplace, more specifically, the mantel above the fireplace. Harry slowly walked over to the mantel, his gaze on the photos that lined it. There was a photo of Hermione's parents, a younger Hermione standing between them with a large smile that showed off her once too big front teeth. Next was a photo of him, Ron, and Hermione in their second years; another in their third, fourth, fifth, and sixth years. Beside that was a photo of the D.A. and another group photo featuring people Harry didn't recognise.

In the middle stood Hermione, who had changed greatly in the ten years since he had last seen her. She was smiling in the photo, a smile he hadn't seen since the beginning of the war. Harry felt jealousy course through him at the thought that his best friend had found happiness in other people when she hadn't been able to find it with him. When Hermione had left, he had wanted to be angry with her, but after he had received her first and only letter with her reasoning, he had only been capable of feeling sad. He had felt like he was losing the closest thing he had had to a sister and he hadn't known what to do or how to cope with it.

The sound of bare feet padding across the hardwood floor had Harry turning to see Hermione making her way down the hall. Ron was distracted by the photos that lined the walls and Lavender seemed to be making tea in the kitchen. Harry wanted to follow Hermione, to demand answers, but he knew just how dangerous that could be and didn't want to chance it.

As he stood there, Harry couldn't help but feel things were about to change. Ginny would say it was his Auror training making him even more paranoid. The statement would be accompanied by an affectionate roll of her eyes as she kissed his cheek.

Ginny. His wife of almost seven years. The mother of his first-born son, James, and unborn child who was due to be born within the next few months. His rock when he felt like everything was becoming too much for him to bare. He had been distraught that Hermione had missed his wedding and the birth of his first child; a month ago, something in him had snapped and he was determined that Hermione wouldn't miss the birth of his second child or any future children he and Ginny had. Ginny had instantly agreed with his plan to find her; she and Hermione had grown closer during the holidays where they had shared a room.

In the bedroom, Hermione was hiding away in her ensuite bathroom, trying to calm her racing heart. She still couldn't believe Harry, Ron, and Lavender was in her living room. They were  _here_. Elation, fear, hesitation, love, and affection coursed through her body and wreaked havoc on her emotions especially so shortly after the full moon. Her wolf was just as anxious as she was, fear of being rejected by those she considered pack making her wolf pace restlessly in her head.

Knowing she couldn't hide in her bathroom forever, Hermione quickly threw on a pair of old sweat pants and an oversized Weasley sweater that George had given her in fourth year when he and Fred had found her working late in the library. She made her way back into the living room, pausing in the doorway to look at the two boys.

Harry had filled out over the years; his body still lean but showcasing all new muscles then when she had last seen him. His dark hair still remained uncontrollably messy and his familiar circular glasses drew her attention to his forest green eyes. She breathed in deeply, the smell of broomstick polish, a spicy cologne that tickled her nose, and a distinctly feminine smell that she couldn't quite pinpoint but was oddly familiar filled her nose from his direction. He was staring at his callused hands, twisting his fingers nervously as his eyes flickered around her living room every now and again, his knees bouncing in front of him.

Ron was almost exactly how she remembered, his hair was a little longer now, and he sported a well-groomed, not too long, beard. His blue eyes looked up as he heard her approach and she could see relief, anger, and anxiety reflected in them when they met her own. His scent made her pause and cock her head, watching curiously as he flushed when he noticed her sniff the air. He smelt like cookies and the earth. Like pack. The scent was faint, like the human mates of their pack. A 'mate' mark. Ron was with or had been with, a werewolf.

"Can you stop scenting us?" he muttered, his ears, face, and neck a bright red as his eyes looked at anything but her, "Lavender does it too and it's just strange."

"Hey!" Lavender exclaimed from where she had just exited the kitchen with a tray of tea and biscuits. "Hope you don't mind, Hermione," she told the older woman as she placed the tray on the coffee table, "I sort of helped myself to your kitchen. Don't worry though, I put everything back  _exactly_ where I found it."

Lavender Brown. If anyone had changed it was definitely her. She still had that obvious beauty that Hermione had envied at school, but she seemed less inclined to show it off now. Hermione didn't miss the scarring that disappeared into her shirt, the remnants of Greyback's attack on her. Her hair was shorter too, cut to just above her shoulder and curled to shape her face.

Hermione's eyes widened as everything began to click into place. Lavender's gold-ringed eyes. The growl she had heard come from the younger woman when Hermione had hugged Ron, even if she had been embarrassed by it afterwards. The fact that Hermione could distinctly smell the same earthy scent on Lavender as she did with the other werewolves of her pack. Lavender might not be a full werewolf, but she definitely had enough lycanthrope qualities for Hermione's wolf to pick up on. The fact that Lavender was keeping her head tilted down in a sign of submission also tipped her off; Lavender was an omega. A wolf without a pack and the lycanthrope traits she had inherited helped her to identify Hermione as a beta and therefore a stronger, more dangerous opponent should they ever fight.

Her eyes returned to Ron who fidgeted under her gaze before he nodded at her silent question, his hand coming up to his neck to rub at it nervously. That's when Hermione noticed the mating mark and she practically vaulted the coffee table to get to Ron, tilting his head to the side and pulling his shirt aside so she could study the bite. Hermione ignored whatever protest Ron was trying to stutter out unsuccessfully as she continued to look at the bite. The earth scent was strongest near the mark, no doubt from Lavender scenting it often enough for other werewolves to recognise him as off limits.

"You're her mate," Hermione breathed, releasing Ron and taking a step back to sit heavily on the coffee table. Everyone was surprised how sensual and husky her voice sounded but Hermione paid them no mind as her eyes flickered from his mark to a nervously shuffling Lavender Brown. Ron and Harry watched her cautiously before she surprised everyone by smiling brightly. "This is fantastic," she exclaimed, "Congratulations to the both of you!"

"T-thanks 'Mione," Ron mumbled, his face darkening further then she thought possible as Lavender sat beside him, smiling softly at Hermione.

"And Harry," she started, snapping to her other best friend who was watching their exchange with no small amount of amusement. His eyes widened when she was suddenly inches from his face, wondering when Hermione had stopped being bothered by personal space, "you're married!"

He spluttered at the simple statement; not because it wasn't true, but because she had known it without him telling her. Seeing his flustered state, Hermione had grinned wolfishly at him. "How?" he managed to get out.

"Your scent," Hermione, Ron, and Lavender answered simultaneously.

"Huh?"

Hermione's grin only widened, "I can smell a feminine scent on you," she explained, "it's fairly strong so you'd have to have been with her for a long time. Ginny, yeah? About time, Harry, if you ask me…"

"You got that I was married from my scent?" Harry interrupted, gobsmacked.

"Don't be ridiculous, Harry," she scolded lightly, rolling her eyes in a way that made the two boys smile, the action very familiar from their time at Hogwarts. "I can _clearly_  see your wedding band," she finished, pointing at his hand where the simple gold band lay innocently on his finger.

Harry blushed at the obviousness of the statement before he coughed and sat up straighter, "Hermione…"

"You want to know where I've been and why I haven't been back or had any contact with anyone in the last ten years," she sighed heavily, her shoulder's slumping. She had hoped to avoid this particular conversation as long as possible.

"Actually," Harry began, rubbing his sweaty hands on his pants, "I was wondering if you could tell us what happened to you. How did you become a werewolf?"

"I was bitten," she deadpanned like it was the most obvious thing in the world. "So…" she started nervously, "I hear Molly killed B-Bellatrix."

"How'd you know?" Ron asked, not missing the way Hermione stuttered out the psychotic witch's name or how her hand reached for her arm where he knew that filthy word was carved into her skin.

"Lavender told me," Hermione replied with a shrug of her shoulders as she looked over at the younger woman who was absentmindedly sipping at her tea and refusing to look at anyone.

"You've spoken to Lavender?" Harry asked angrily, jealous that she had spoken to Lavender but not to him. Over the last ten years, he had sent her hundreds of letters, knowing he wouldn't get a reply but hoping anyway.

"She wrote to me yesterday," Hermione explained, "David opened the letter and read it out loud whilst I was minding a friend's store. I had no intention of opening it, Harry; I didn't recognise the handwriting on it and had planned on leaving it unopened."

"You mean like you did to all of the ones we sent you?" he questioned bitterly.

Hermione promptly stood up before she marched from the room and down the hall, leaving behind two gaping wizards and a weary-looking witch. Ron quickly slapped Harry in the back of the head when he heard Hermione turn into a room at the end of the hall.

"Oi! What was that for?!" Harry grunted, rubbing the back of his head.

"Don't piss her off, Harry," he replied, "werewolves are temperamental at the best of times, don't poke the bear, yeah?"

"Hermione wouldn't hurt anyone," Harry protested.

"The Hermione you both knew is now a werewolf," Lavender replied logically, "it changed me and I only took on their traits and a few of their instincts; who knows what it did to Hermione."

"I want answers," Harry grumbled.

"You think I don't?" Ron retorted angrily, "she's my best friend too, Harry. You're not the only one who's missed her these last few years! We've all been beside ourselves."

"I'm sorry I've distressed you all so much," came Hermione's reply as she entered the room once more, a large ornate box in her arms.

Ron and Harry jumped at the sudden inclusion of her voice, unused to hearing it after such a long time. Hermione walked over to them and once again sat on the coffee table before she placed the box on her thighs and opened it. She pulled out a large stack of parchment, tied together with a silk ribbon, and handed them to Harry.

As he looked down at them, realising they were all his letters from the last ten years, Hermione picked up another stack and handed them to him. These ones were written in her familiar cursive script, letters addressed to him, to Ron, George, Ginny, and many others. She had even written letters to Fred even though she knew he had died in the final battle.

"I read every letter you sent me," she told him thickly, "and I wrote just as many, I just never sent them."

"Why not?" Harry choked, his eyes beginning to water.

She smiled sadly, "because I wasn't ready to face that part of my life again."

_Knock. Knock. Knock._

Hermione bolted to the door and practically threw it open, hearing David's familiar baritone grumbling on the other side of the sturdy door. David barely managed to speak a word before the smell of two males and a female reached his nose and he pulled Hermione behind him as his eyes flashed gold and he snarled lowly. The smell of electricity that he had come to learn represented their magical core filled the air and burnt the hairs in his nose. He had grown used to the scent on Hermione, but the smell was usually hidden beneath her pack scent. The smell of the three newcomers was exponentially more potent than the little witch he had stepped in front of.

Hearing the snarl, Harry and Ron were on their feet instantly, their wands raised and aimed at the imposing man standing in the door. Ron stepped in front of Lavender even as she prepared herself to defend her mate, knowing she didn't stand a chance against a beta let alone an Alpha.

"Wait!" Hermione yelled, moving out from behind David and standing in front of him, her own eyes flashing gold as she looked at her two best friends, ready to defend her Alpha if she had to. "Put. Down. Your. Wands. Now!" she ordered, her voice a throaty growl as she continued to block her Alpha from their line of sight.

Ron was the first to do as she asked, recognising the protective instincts flaring in his werewolf best friend. Lavender had displayed similar protectiveness whenever she thought he was being threatened and he knew it was best to do what he was told when the wolf was in control. Seeing Ron stowing his wand away encouraged Harry to do the same, albeit reluctantly, his eyes jumping from his best friend to the large man that seemed to be taking up most of her doorway.

"Hermione, who are these people?" David asked, placing a comforting hand on her shoulder.

"David, this is Harry, Ron, and Lavender. Guys, this is David, my Alpha." Hermione turned in David's grip, her eyes raising to meet his only to freeze as she noticed the tension in his body. She could smell his anxiety and saw the frown lines marring his handsome features. "What's wrong?" she asked hesitantly.

David seemed to look past her and to her friends before his grip on her tightened almost painfully as their eyes connected again.

"Caleb's missing," he told her gravely, his eyes showing his fear and concern even as his face remained stoic. Then he said three little words that had her heart sinking faster than it ever had before.

"Greyback has him."


	2. Chapter 2

_**If you ever want to see the pup alive again, you'll bring her to me.** _

The note had been short and to the point; no room left for argument because they all knew Greyback would hold true to his words. If Hermione didn't give herself up to the psychotic werewolf, Caleb would be killed.

Hermione felt like she was listening to the ensuing argument from the bottom of the Black Lake. She knew Harry and Ron were arguing, that much was obvious by the way their arms were flailing about the place as they glared at each other and then at David who had steered Hermione over to her sofa and had sat her down on his lap.

Lavender just sat across from the two of them quietly, her worried gaze settled on Hermione as she drowned out the argument her mate was having with his best friend. Hermione was pale, almost translucent, and the medi-witch in her wanted nothing more than to heal her. But Lavender knew there was no healing this; there were no cures for fear.

Hermione would occasionally feel David's chest rumble with a growl, particularly when Harry narrowed his eyes at where David's hand was rested on her waist. Hermione knew it meant nothing, it was only there to offer her comfort after all. It worked too, she did feel comforted by the familiar weight and heat of it resting against her body. Whilst they all ran pretty high temperatures, David seemed to be a walking furnace amongst their pack. When the full moon fell on a particularly cold night, their pack would huddle around their Alpha to conserve warmth.

David didn't try to give her comforting words, he knew they wouldn't work anyway so he simply sat her against him, allowing her to take in the scent of pack. He was her Alpha, and she knew he would do everything in his power to try and keep her safe. David would lay down his life for anyone in the pack and so would the other members, Hermione herself included. They were family, and families protected one another.

She looked up in time to see Harry looking at her as Ron continued to rant. His expressive green eyes told her how scared he was, not for himself but for her. Greyback wanted her. Greyback; the deadliest, most feral werewolf in the world. The werewolf who haunted her nightmares whenever Bellatrix didn't make an appearance.

She felt sick.

Hermione flew from David's lap and rushed from her living room. She barely managed to reach her ensuite bathroom before she threw up what little she had managed to eat yesterday. Hermione felt someone pull her curls back from her face and another hand rub gentle circles into her back as she continued to dry retch.

When the nausea finally subsided, her throat and chest were sore and she could smell the salty tears that burned their way down her pallid cheeks. Ten years she had been free from the drama of the wizarding world and now she was being dragged back into it. If that wasn't bad enough, her pack was being dragged into it with her.

"Are you okay?"

Harry's voice broke through the silence and Hermione lifted a shaky hand to her mouth to wipe the remnants of bile from her lips. She grunted gruffly as she moved away from the toilet bowl and leaned back into her best friend's open arms. Her back rested flush against his chest, her head lolling back on his shoulder as she tried to take in deep, even breathes.

A chuckle from the man behind her had Hermione turning slightly to give Harry a raised eyebrow. His eyes were alight with concern, but she could see the small flicker of amusement as he grinned down at her. "You sounded exactly like Ron just now," he elaborated for her, snickering lightly as he watched her roll her russet eyes and turn back so she was facing the wall again.

Neither of them spoke about how right it felt to be sitting like they were. It wasn't in any way romantic, simply an act that was familiar from their time at Hogwarts. They would often times sit like this in times of stress, their roles reversed depending on which of them required the other persons comfort. Hermione felt her heart beat slowing to meet the pace Harry's set as it beat comfortably against her back. She could hear it and found the sound almost as comforting as the embrace and being enveloped in his scent.

Werewolves were extremely touchy-feely. David had explained it to her as a way of forming bonds and seeking comfort and strength in those around them. The act itself had made Hermione uneasy at first, but soon she came to crave the physical contact as much as the next pack member.

"We'll get Caleb back, 'Mione," Harry promised her, his fingers entwining with her own as he placed a gentle kiss on her hair.

"I know," she replied, her voice hoarse from the vomiting. She could feel the small beads of sweat falling down her face as she pulled out the small, decorative piece of paper that had accompanied the note. It was an invitation to the yearly anniversary for the battle of Hogwarts. This year was a masquerade ball. Hermione had no idea why Greyback wanted to meet there of all places, surrounded by witches and wizards who wanted him thrown in Azkaban for his crimes. "I'm going to do as he says," she continued.

"WHAT?!" Harry exclaimed, his body physically recoiling before he was grabbing her shoulders and forcing her to face him. His green eyes blazed with anger but where others might have clinched away from his piercing gaze, Hermione was one of a select few who simply stared him down in return. "No way," he continued with a furious shake of his head, "that's never going to happen."

"I won't let Caleb die for me, Harry," she inserted firmly, her own eyes narrowing as they flashed gold; her wolf growling at the challenge Harry unknowingly dished out. She would yield to the orders of her Alpha but no one else.

She growled at him, "you have no control over what I do or don't do, Harry James Potter. Ten years I've lived here! Ten years I've called this place home… called these people family! We are a pack! And now, because I tried to move on from my own past, foolishly believing there would be no repercussions, a member of my pack had been taken." Hermione took in a deep breath, her eyes softening as she cupped Harry's face in her warmer-than-average hands. "He's thirteen," she told him quietly, "he's so young and he has so much he still needs to do. I can't lose anyone else, Harry," she continued, her eyes watering, "you didn't see me after the war. I lost everything that I was; I even gave up magic."

Harry's eyes widened at her last sentence. He had wondered why, when his own magic had reached out to hers, he had only encountered a barrier. Guilt settled over him, he had never even thought about just how badly Hermione had been affected by the war. She was his best friend, his sister in all but blood, the one person who had  _never_ left him. Hell, she had offered to go into the Forbidden Forest with him to face Voldemort.

Hermione wasn't prepared for Harry to throw himself at her, his arms wrapping around her as he crushed her body to his own. She could smell the bitter scent of guilt and signed heavily. It was not her intention to make him feel guilty, she had simply wanted him to know why she  _had_ to do this.

Hours could have passed, though in reality it was a few minutes, and Hermione would have been none the wiser as she held Harry to her. She whispered soothing words into his ear, assuring him she didn't blame him for anything that had happened. Hermione was happy that Harry couldn't smell her emotions like she could smell his. If he could, he would have smelt the small pang of shame she felt: because, for a short time after she had left London, Hermione  _did_ blame Harry for how her life had turned out. It had been a fleeting thought, brought on by her parents' death and the fire whiskey she had consumed, one she had felt instantly guilty for having, but it had been there anyway and she still felt rotten for having had it.

When they pulled away, both of their cheeks were stained by tears, but they still managed to give one another a watery smile. Hermione could see the moment Harry realised he wasn't going to be able to change her mind, that she would be giving herself over to Greyback like he had ordered. She knew he wanted to stop her, that if he could, he'd probably ward her into her room; but he also knew just how stubborn she could be.

"We came because I wanted to convince you to come home," Harry began after a drawn-out silence, "but I didn't want you to return just so you can give yourself over to Greyback." He removed his glasses and wiped at his eyes before he put the circular frames back on, "I'm going to have Aurors stationed around the ball. Any sign of Greyback and we'll take him down before he can ever reach you."

"But, Caleb…"

"I promise we'll do everything we can to learn where Greyback's taken Caleb," Harry interrupted, "but I'm not going to lose you, 'Mione." He smiled softly, "I just got you back, after all."

Hermione nodded unsurely, afraid for their youngest pack member. Caleb was just a pup, sure he wasn't her favourite pack member, but she'd never wish harm on him. She feared what Greyback would do to him if Harry's plan failed but a small part of her was thankful that she wouldn't have to go with him. Greyback terrified her about as much as Bellatrix Lestrange, and her instincts screamed at her to run to the furthest reaches of the planet to hide from him.

"Okay," she agreed lowly, "okay, we'll do it your way."

She watched Harry's shoulders sag from relief, her mind rapidly processing everything that had happened within the last twenty-four hours. As she slowly drew out of her mind, one final thought rang out clearly.

_How many more surprises can I take, before I'm left broken again?_

* * *

David had not been happy with Hermione's decision to be bait to capture Greyback but had soon reluctantly agreed that it was far better than Hermione simply handing herself over to him.

Hermione had been both relieved and indignant when Harry had told her that she wouldn't be returning to London. She would be remaining in Alaska until the night of the ball where an Auror would arrive to escort her to the ball. Until then, Ron and Lavender would be staying with her in case Greyback tried to come after her before the ball.

"I don't need a babysitter, Harry!" Hermione exclaimed, her arms folded over her chest as she glared at the three men standing before her.

David towered over Harry and Ron's impressive frames, his own arms folded over his chest and making him look twice as intimidating as he usually did. "That may be so but let's face it, Hermione, Greyback isn't just a werewolf. He has magic and having extra wands in case he shows up would not only help to protect you, but the rest of the pack," her Alpha told her softly, his tone of voice a polar opposite to his body language.

Hermione huffed as David's lips twitched into a smirk, knowing that playing the pack card would trump her stubborn nature every time. Since her transformations began, David had seen the makings of an Alpha in the younger woman. She had leadership qualities he was sure she didn't even realise she had and her loyalty was something you needed to experience to believe. Having met her friends, David had no doubt why Hermione had been drawn to them in school. The dark haired one, Harry, practically screamed natural born leader and the redhead, Ron, seemed fiercely protective of his friends. David knew that Ron had made a few mistakes when it came to their friendship during their time at Hogwarts, but he could see that things had changed since Hermione had left.

"Besides," Harry added, "Ron and Lavender can catch you up on everything you've missed since you left."

"I have a spare room," Hermione sighed, turning to Ron and Lavender as she spoke, "the bed instant the largest in the world but a simple spell should fix that."

Lavender squealed happily, running forward to hug Hermione before she disappeared down the hall to find the aforementioned spare bedroom. "I'll head back with Harry to pick up a few things and be back around before the sun sets," Ron informed Hermione.

She couldn't believe that everything that had happened had happened before noon. Hermione silently nodded to her redheaded best friend as Harry stepped forward to hug her tightly. "I'm happy we found you, 'Mione," he whispered in her ear before he took a step back, "and I'll see you again in a week."

"Bye, Harry," Hermione breathed, taking in his scent before she reluctantly let him go, "say hi to Ginny for me?"

Harry flinched, "I'd expect a howler in a few hours."

Hermione copied his actions, flinching at the mention of anything to do with the infamous Weasley temper. The fact that Ginny was pregnant sent a small jolt of fear through Hermione. She was happy to admit she was scared of the youngest Weasley, who wasn't?

When Harry and Ron had left, Hermione had quickly checked on Lavender who had finished extending the bed and was cleaning up what little dust was in the room. Forgetting that David was still there, Hermione found herself back in her room, kneeling before her old school trunk, her fingers shaking as she tried to work up the courage to open it. She wasn't stupid, Hermione knew she would need her wand for the trip they were about to make, but the thought of picking it up when the last time she had used it was to throw hexes at other witches and wizards gave her pause.

"Relax," she breathed, trying to calm herself like she had done that very first day at Hogwarts when she had been afraid that she wouldn't get sorted into any house and would be forced to return to her old life. The sound of the trunk unlocking seemed to thunder over all other noises and Hermione felt her breathing hitch as she slowly lifted the lid of the trunk.

Her wand lay their innocently, not a speck of dirt or dust in sight. Hermione still didn't know how her wand had found its way to Hogwarts, much less how it had gotten into her beaded bag; especially since the last time she had seen it was when one of the snatchers had confiscated it before they had been taken to Malfoy Manor.

She could feel the barrier she had placed around her magic creek and crack, calling for the slim wand that lay before her. Hermione reached for it slowly, achingly slowly, until her fingers scraped the sides of the wand.

She recoiled. The trunk slammed shut. The barrier reformed.

Anger coursed through her. She was angry at herself for allowing something as trivial as picking up her wand to affect her so much. At one point in her life, her wand had symbolised the purity that was magic. She had been so naïve back then. Magic wasn't pure, it was corrupt and deadly. Even a basic levitating charm could be used to haul someone over a cliff face.

 _I'm being ridiculous,_ she mentally scolded herself,  _magic isn't evil or good, the intent behind it that determines the nature of it._

Logically, she knew that was true. Emotionally, however, Hermione wanted to throw the trunk into a volcano or a super nova. Ten years she had lived without magic, and after ten years, she had felt like she had finally moved on from the war. Her reaction to her wand said otherwise.

Stiffening, Hermione opened the lid of the trunk once more. She drew on every ounce of Gryffindor courage and quickly shoved her hand in the trunk, pulling out her wand before she could chicken out again.

Hermione gasped at the intense magical hum that ran through her body. Ten years of supressed magic swirled viciously through her being, ready to burst forth in a violent display of accidental magic. Hermione put at tight lid on it, forcing it down like she had been doing for years now. Unfortunately, not before a short burst of magic exploded from the tip of her wand, shattering the wood and sending Hermione flying into the far wall before she crumbled to the ground, unconscious.

* * *

Lavender felt the small magical explosion, stumbling at the surge of power that hit her before there was a loud crash and a series of heavy footfalls before Hermione's Alpha was yelling her name.

Grabbing her wand off the newly enlarged bed, Lavender rushed from the room. She skidded into Hermione's bedroom only to stop when David growled at her as he crouched over Hermione's unconscious body. She raised her hands and lowered her chin until his growls stopped and his golden eyes disappeared. "Can I approach her?" she asked, keeping her head bowed and her wand visible, knowing the Alpha would take any unauthorised moves as an attack on his weakened beta. She may not have been a full werewolf, but Lavender had studied them extensively after she had been mauled by Greyback.

David grunted, nodding minutely but not moving from where he was crouched protectively over Hermione.

Lavender kneeled beside the two of them and waved her wand to cast a few diagnostic spells, all the while making sure to explain exactly what she was doing to the tense Alpha. Mentally, she thanked Remus and Bill for all their information on werewolves.

Hermione was simply unconscious, there were no bumps or concussions they would need to worry about; though, when she woke up, she would probably have one hell of a headache. The young witch frowned, however, when one of her diagnostic spells came back with strange results.

"When did Hermione last use magic?" she asked the Alpha, casting a more in-depth diagnostic spell.

"Not since she's been here," he answered her after a long pause, his voice laden with concern as he watched her worked on Hermione.

"What?!" Lavender exclaimed, almost dropping her wand as her head snapped up so her eyes met David's, "ten years? H-Hermione hasn't used magic in ten years?"

She needed to be sure, needed his confirmation even as she hoped he would answer differently.

The Alpha shook his head, "she used to have a panic attack just reading her old school textbooks. A year after she arrived, she told me that when she even thought about touching her wand, she felt sick."

"What about wandless magic?" Lavender asked even as she got the answer to her question as she received the results from the diagnostic spell she had cast.

"You can do that?" David asked, surprised.

Lavender nodded as she focused on the results she was seeing, "powerful witches and wizards can. I know Hermione managed to cast a wandless confundus charm in her fifth year; impressive, especially for her age."

She waved her wand and an image of Hermione appeared above the unconscious woman. She would have been mesmerized by the gold particles that clustered inside of Hermione, swirling almost angrily inside of her. However, Lavender knew just how serious what she was looking at was and her concern for the unconscious witch grew.

"What is this?" the Alpha asked.

"The gold is Hermione's magic," Lavender explained breathlessly, "I've never seen this much in one body." At the confused look on the Alpha's face, Lavender continued, "witches and wizard rarely ever supress their magic; not since the statute of secrecy anyway. Those of them that do usually do so for severe reasons and they can have some very  _nasty_ side effects," she explained, "in children, they can develop into an Obscurus depending on their reason for suppressing their magic; it's why accidental magic is taken as a good sign in the magical community."

Lavender watched the gold particles flare before they steadied themselves once more, "as for older witches and wizards, the magic becomes volatile from being suppressed; it begins to… act out."

"Act out, how?"

"I'm really not sure," Lavender replied with a shake of her head, "but it's never good. The last recorded case was about three centuries ago, a wizard from Romania had been supressing his magic so he wouldn't have to tell his religious wife he was a wizard. No one knows what happened beforehand, but the end result was a magical explosion that levelled a whole village."

"Is there any way to stop it?"

Lavender ran the fingers of her free hand through her hair, "I don't know," she answered truthfully, knowing the werewolf would hear the skip in her heart if she lied, "but we'll figure it out. Once Hermione wakes up, we'll start trying to find ways of siphoning her magic without hurting her."

She watched as the Alpha picked Hermione up off the ground and carried her to the bed, placing her on it gently before he stroked some wayward curls from her face. "What happens if you can't siphon her magic?" he asked, not looking at Lavender.

"With Hermione's magical potential? We'd be lucky if she  _only_ levelled a village."

"No, what will happen to  _her_?"

Lavender blinked away the tears that rapidly sprung to her eyes. "If we don't siphon the pent-up magical energy, there'll be nothing left of her when it finally lashes out. No one is strong enough to survive that much power," Lavender explained quietly.

* * *

_Hermione was in St. Mungos. She looked around curiously, no one seemed to realise she was there. In a way, it was kind of eerie. A small tug at her heart had Hermione feeling like she was in the wrong place but she ignored it in favour of making her way to a familiar room._

_She looked at Neville's parents, laying unresponsively on their beds._

_Mrs. Longbottom was just staring up at the ceiling as her husband slept peacefully beside her, his hands occasionally twitching._

_The tug on her heart wanted her to keep following it, but Hermione simply watched the parents of one of her closest friends. She had always felt sad for the fate they had suffered; unable to watch their son grow into the brilliant man he had become._

" _Help us."_

_Hermione jumped at the voice and turned to see Mrs. Longbottom standing behind her, Mr. Longbottom beside his wife. They were wispy, fading in an out of existence as they looked at her with eyes that were no longer distant. "Please, help us!" Mrs. Longbottom pleaded before they faded and Hermione found herself alone in Hogwarts._

_She caught a flash of hair, the colour indiscernible due to everything being grey scale in this dream. "Hey!" she called, running after the owner of the hair as a sense of déjà vu struck her. She had dreamt this before. Not the hospital or Hogwarts, but her brain told her she had definitely had this dream before. For months actually._

" _Help me."_

_The voice sounded so familiar but it was distorted enough that she couldn't exactly pinpoint why that was._

_Hermione gave chase only to stumble as she suddenly found herself in the auditorium of the Ministry of Magic. It was empty, eerily so, until she caught a flash of dark hair._

_Hermione gave chase, like she wasn't entirely in control of her own body._

_Doors passed by her in a blur until she turned down a hall with a single door that seemed to be screaming at her. Her instincts told her to stop but no matter how hard she tried, her legs continued to move. The door got closer and closer until she was running through the wood and stumbling to the middle of a cavernous room that sent chills down her spine._

_The Veil stood before her, just as large and as intimidating as when she had first seen it. The difference now? She could see a swirling mist where it had once been empty, eerie whispers coming from it that made her shake and take an uneasy step back._

_Strong arms wrapped around her as she was pulled to a hard chest and Hermione once again felt her heart beat pick up pace as she was embraced by her mate. She wanted to turn to see him, to know who he was, but his arms tightened a little as if reading her thoughts._

" _Help me, Mia. Help me!"_

* * *

Hermione gasped awake, falling out of her bed as she did. She cursed harshly as she landed on her floor with a loud  _thump_.

Before she could finish her colourful litany of swears, Lavender and Ron came thundering into the room with their wands raised. Lavender was the first to lower hers, seeing that there was no danger. When Ron lowered his wand shortly after, he was wearing an amused grin as he spied his dishevelled best friend laying like a starfish on her hardwood floor. His girlfriend began giggling shortly after, though she was thoughtful enough to do it as she helped Hermione off the ground.

"Are you okay?" she asked the curly haired witch.

Hermione blinked owlishly before the dream slammed into her like a semi-truck. Ignoring the two guests, Hermione bolted from her room and ran into the living room where she quickly made her way over to the furthest bookshelf. Ron and Lavender had followed her into the room but she paid no mind to their questions as she quickly searched the shelves. When she couldn't find what she was looking for, Hermione let out a frustrated yell. She distinctly remembered reading something on dream messages and the Veil but none of the books on her shelves seemed to be the one she had read for the information.

"Damn it!" she yelled, running her fingers through her hair and hissing as they occasionally snagged on a knot. Her temper flared and before she could control herself, Hermione punched the heavy oak bookshelf, splintering the wood.

"Hermione? What's wrong?" Lavender asked, holding Ron back when he tried to approach the angry witch.

Hermione turned to them, her eyes gold as she breathed heavily.

"'Mione?" Ron asked hesitantly, lowering Lavender's arm and taking a cautious step towards his best friend. He made slow, exaggerated moves, placing his hands on her shoulders and watching as she relaxed in his hold, her eyes returning to their usual dark hue. "Talk to us," he urged her, moving them both over to the sofa even as Lavender levitated in the tea she had been making before they had heard the thump of Hermione falling out of bed.

"I've been having this reoccurring dream," Hermione explained as she rested her elbows on her thighs and out her head in her hands, "it's been happening for a few months now. At first, I thought it might be a Mate Dream, David told me werewolves can get them to help locate their mate. But it's changed recently."

"How so?" Lavender questioned, intrigued by what Hermione was saying as she prepared everyone's cup of tea, Ron having told her how Hermione liked it.

"Because I've seen Mr. and Mrs. Longbottom."

Ron had been taking a drink of his tea when Hermione had spoken and had promptly began to choke on the mouthful he had been in the process of swallowing. "What?" he asked, looking at her with wide eyes.

"Usually I'm in the Ministry of Magic, chasing someone in the halls until he catches me just as I reach a door and tells me to help him," she explained. "It used to unsettle me, thinking that my mate was in danger and I couldn't do anything. But the last one had the Longbottom's asking me to help them too."

Ron could see Hermione was holding something back, something big, and he waited a tad impatiently for her to tell him what it was.

"I," she took in a deep breath, "I saw the Veil."

Her head snapped up, her eyes moving to his as hope flashed in them.

"I think I can bring them back."

* * *

Ron hadn't believed her, obviously, after all, coming back from the Veil was impossible. Right? Besides, Mr. and Mrs. Longbottom hadn't even fallen through the Veil. So, why did Hermione believe that she could bring them out of their comatose states using the Veil?

"It could work," Lavender said, breaking the heavy silence that had fallen over them after Ron had promptly walked out of the cottage in search of the local pub. "There's so much we don't know about the Veil," she continued when Hermione gave her an inquisitive look, "we just assume that those who cross over into the Veil die. But what if they don't?"

"That still wouldn't explain how it could possibly help Mr. and Mrs. Longbottom," Hermione interjected, "they never fell into the Veil, they were tortured."

"What if the Veil is like limbo? The place souls go when they're neither living nor dead?" Lavender asked, "what if you can pull the souls back into this world? Essentially, you'd be bringing the person back. Perhaps, you'd be bringing back the part of the Longbottom's that was lost when they were tortured."

Hermione straightened in her seat, perking up at the newest theory presented to her. "So, we could bring Sirius back? We could give Neville back his parents?"

"We could bring Fred back," Lavender said without thought.

"Wait, what?" Hermione asked, swearing she had heard wrong. "Lavender," she continued softly, "if this theory is correct, we'd only be able to bring back people who belong in limbo. Fred died." Her voiced hitched as she said his name, remembering just how heartbroken she had been to learn of his death. Hermione hadn't been able to go and see his body, always having had a soft spot for the twins regardless of what they might have thought.

Lavender shuffled nervously, knowing this was something Ron had wanted to tell Hermione. However, knowing her mate, he'd be half way drunk by now and Hermione needed to know this. "Hermione, Fred's in a coma in St. Mungos," she told her softly, "he's been there since shortly after the final battle."

"H-how is that possible?"

"His pulse was so faint only an advanced diagnostic spell managed to pick it up," Lavender explained, "he's in a magical coma but he doesn't seem to be waking up. George spends every day with him, Angelina and Lee mind the store. The healers are trying to get him to come to terms with the fact that Fred won't ever wake up."

"Oh my god," Hermione breathed, her hand covering her mouth as her eyes watered.

Lavender moved so she was kneeling before Hermione, grabbing her free hand in hers and squeezing it gently. "Hey, it's okay," she told the crying woman, "because this is the first time in ten years where I've heard of something that stands an actual chance of waking him up. I promise, I'll help you find any information we can on how we can use the Veil to get them back; maybe I can get Headmistress McGonagall to let us use the school library for research."

"I'm on house arrest," Hermione replied bitterly, angry with herself for not staying long enough to learn that Fred had survived. How could she have been so selfish?

"Don't be dramatic," Lavender retorted with a roll of her eyes, "no one said you were confined to the house; Harry said you weren't to go to London. Hogwarts isn't in London and we could Floo straight there from here if we get the permission we need."

"That's very Slytherin of you, Lavender," Hermione smirked, a few tears still trailing down her splotchy cheeks.

"Well, I did date a Slytherin in school."

Hermione's eyes widened. "Which one?" she asked curiously.

"Blaise Zabini," Lavender answered with a shrug. She jumped when Hermione suddenly laughed, "what?"

"I, uh, I dated Theodore Nott in fifth year."

"WHAT?! How come I never knew!" Lavender screeched, unbelieving that  _she_ of all people, had not  _ever_ heard this juicy piece of gossip.

"We kept it a secret for obvious reasons, Theo wasn't as obnoxious as his house mates."

Lavender sat there, gaping at Hermione as she processed everything the older woman had just said. "Merlin's hairy left nut!" she exclaimed, "the Gryffindor princess dated a snake? I didn't think you even knew what dating was!"

"Hey! I dated Viktor in fourth year!"

"You were  _actually_ together?!" Lavender screeched, her inner teenager coming out at all the new information being presented to her.

The two women briefly discussed Hermione's dating history and Lavender was surprised to learn the Gryffindor princess had never been as prudish as she had thought she was. It was only when Hermione stood up and went to make dinner that Lavender contacted Minerva who had been beyond thrilled to learn that her young cub had finally been found and had avidly agreed to let them use the school library. She also promised not to tell a soul what they would be researching. Lavender knew that chances were, Ron wouldn't recall the conversation and she didn't want to get anyone's hopes up if they failed at accomplishing what they were going to try.

She could hear Hermione humming to herself in the kitchen and went to offer her help when there was a knock at the door. "I'll get it," she called to Hermione, already moving to the door. Lavender was surprised when she saw David holding up a barely conscious Ronald Weasley. "Thank you for bringing him here," she told him as he practically carried her inebriated mate into the cottage, "I'll put him in bed."

"I can do it," David replied as he turned and half carried, half dragged Ron into the bedroom. When he came out, he looked Lavender over before he spoke, "where's Hermione?"

Lavender didn't answer, she merely motored to the kitchen. "I haven't told her about her magic yet," she informed him, "when Hermione woke up, she was distressed. She's apparently been having these dreams…"

"…the one where she's at that Magic Ministry place?"

"Yeah," Lavender answered, not surprised that Hermione had told him; he was her alpha after all. "Apparently the newest one was different, it involved a magical object in our world. Hermione thinks she can save several people, bring them back from limbo by using this object."

"Can she?" he asked, knowing how guilty Hermione had felt all these years. She had believed she hadn't done everything she could have done to help in the war. When she had first moved into the village, she could often be seen buying alcohol and sleeping pills to try and stop the nightmares and the guilt that weighed her down. She had been losing weight at an alarming rate when she had joined his pack and there had been a moment when David had feared her first transformation would kill her because her body wasn't strong enough to handle it.

"I don't know," Lavender answered truthfully, "but if there is anyone who could make it work, it'd be Hermione."

There was a short silence before Lavender heard an owl pecking at the window and turned to see Athena, Ginny's owl, with a red envelop on her beak. "This won't be good," she mattered, "Hermione! Mail!"

Hermione had barely removed the letter from Athena's beak when it opened and started screeching.

" **HERMIONE JEAN GRANGER, WHERE THE HELL HAVE YOU BEEN?! I CANNOT BELIEVE YOU WOULD DO THIS TO US AFTER EVERYTHING WE'VE BEEN THROUGH! I AM ABSOLUTELY** _ **DISGUSTED**_ **! DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA HOW WORRIED WE'VE ALL BEEN?! NO NOTE, NO FLOO CALL! YOU COULD HAVE BEEN DEAD AND WE'D HAVE NEVER HAVE BEEN THE WISER FOR IT!**

" **YOU MISSED YOUR BEST FRIEND GETTING MARRIED AND DON'T EVEN GET ME STARTED ON THE FAMILY YOU** _ **ABANDONED**_ **! WHAT YOU DID WAS** _ **BEYOND**_ **SELFISH! DO YOU THINK YOU WERE THE ONLY PERSON SUFFERING?! WE ALL LOST PEOPLE IN THE WAR, HERMIONE, BUT DID ANY OF US LEAVE WITHOUT A WORD TO THE PEOPLE WE LOVED?! NO!** "

During Ginny's rant, Hermione remained perfectly still, her face blank as she listened to the words the letter screeched at her in her friend's voice. The message fell silent for a moment before it began again, this time a lot calmer and in Harry's familiar baritone.

" **Sorry 'bout that, 'Mione. I haven't had time to explain everything to Ginny, but I promise that I'll do it right now. Don't take what she said to heart, just give her a few days to calm down and process everything I'm about to tell her. We love you, 'Mione.** "

The letter fell to the ground, laying on her floor innocently even as Hermione felt her heart sinking. She turned, not paying attention to Lavender or David as she mumbled a small, 'I'll be back,' before she rushed from the cottage.

After her transformation, Hermione had begun running. It helped to calm her and kept her wolf from getting restless like she so often did. She knew where she wanted to go and as she ran, Hermione tried to keep her mind clear. The sun was beginning to set and Hermione wondered how the day had possibly passed so quickly. She supposed she had been unconscious for a few hours after her unfortunate mishap with her wand.

Hermione ran as fast as she could, her hair flowing behind her and no doubt tangling more than it already had been. She ran until she reached a cliff face. It was something she had found a couple months after she had been turned into a werewolf, a place where she often came when she was stressed or just needed to think. It overlooked the ocean and the smell of the salty air always seemed strangely soothing to her.

She sat right at the edge, her legs dangling over the edge as the wind whipped around her. Goose bumps appeared on her exposed arms, Hermione having removed her sweater earlier. From where she sat, she could just see the sun touching the horizon, reflecting brightly off the calm ocean. Not for the first time, Hermione wished she could be that calm, that peaceful. She wanted nothing more than to wash away her stress and live the carefree life she had always dreamed of.

The war was over, but the scars that remained would be there forever and Hermione feared she'd never truly get over everything that had happened. At first, it had taken her months to train her mind into reacting to things like a normal human being.

She hadn't been able to sleep on her bed for quite some time, the mattress far softer than the bunk beds they had used whilst they were on the run. Hermione had been unable to eat more than a few mouthfuls of food and even then, the rich textures had made her sick to her stomach. Even something as mundane as having a shower had been a chore. She had been so paranoid that something would happen if she took any longer than a few minutes at a time and baths were definitely out of the question for quite some time.

Sights, smells, sounds. They all seemed to set her off in one way or another and Hermione had often times found herself reaching for her wand before she remembered that the war was over and her wand was locked away.

Nothing, however, had compared to the nightmares. Hermione had been forced to buy sleeping tablets just so she could remain asleep long enough not to be at risk of randomly passing out from sleep deprivation. Unfortunately, that meant she had to suffer through the nightmares.

Bellatrix had played a very frequent roll in her nightmares, though, Dolohov and Greyback were a close second and third. In the end, Hermione feared Bellatrix far more than she ever would fear Voldemort. Did that fear go away now that she knew Bellatrix was dead? Not even a little bit. Hermione would rather face a hundred Voldemort's than ever have to face Bellatrix again.

Alcohol had helped. Every night, Hermione would drink herself into a stupor knowing that the alcohol staved off the nightmares. For a while. As her body built up a tolerance to it, Hermione needed to consume more of it and more frequently; so much so, that she had kept a bottle on her nightstand.

She had fallen so far from the eleven-year-old girl that had entered Hogwarts with a burning desire to prove herself worthy of the world she had somehow been blessed to be a part of. No longer had she craved the approval of others. Nor had she cared about something a trivial as grades. For the longest time, Hermione had been an empty shell of herself.

Until that fateful night when she had gone for a hike and had been turned into a werewolf. After that, Hermione had found something she hadn't even known she was looking for. A pack. An  _Alpha._ She had found someone who took care of her, who put her needs above his own instead of the other way around. For years, Hermione had been the one to look after everyone else and she had never really had any idea how much she needed someone to tell her to shut up and let someone take care of her for once.

David had done so in the only way David knew how, by forcing himself into her life whether she liked it or not. At first, she had fought him tooth and nail, wanting nothing to do with him, the pack, or being a werewolf. She was so grateful that her Alpha was a stubborn man and after years, she finally felt like she had found herself.

Now? Ginny's words resonated in her mind. She had been selfish for leaving; hadn't she? Of course, she had. She had been thinking of no one except herself, but was that really a bad thing? After everything she had been through, everything she had  _suffered_  through, did she not deserve to be selfish for once?

"Thought I'd find you up here."

Hermione didn't startle at David's voice, having heard his familiar heavy footsteps before he had spoken. She turned her head so half of her face was visible to her alpha, her tangled curls spilling messily over her shoulder. Hermione said nothing as David came forward and sat beside her, his own legs dangling off the cliff as their arms brushed.

"She was angry and we always say what we mean to say a bit more harshly than we mean to say it when we're angry," David told her.

She was thankful he didn't say something like, 'she didn't mean it,' or, 'I'm sure she'll take it back.' Truth be told, Ginny had every right to feel the way she did and Hermione didn't want someone lying to her about that. Did Ginny's words hurt? Yes. Was she going to be pissed off that Ginny had said them to her? Of course not, what was the point? The reason Hermione had gotten on with Ginny so much was because she wasn't afraid to speak her mind and she never sugar coated anything.

"I was selfish," she told him quietly.

"You were," David agreed gruffly, "but sometimes we need to be selfish and there's nothing wrong with that, Hermione."

"I know," she answered, "but that doesn't mean I don't feel bad about it."

David placed a heavy arm over her shoulders and pulled her flush against his side. "It's okay to feel bad about things, but don't let it consume you. You fought in a war, suffered more than anyone your age ever should have to…"

"… we all did…"

"… and I'm not saying they didn't," he assured her, "what I'm saying is that everyone copes with stuff like that differently. For you, it was leaving."

Hermione rested her head on David's large shoulder as she watched the sun continue to disappear. She heard him move his other arm before she heard something being removed from his pocket and a chain with a dog tag on it was being presented to her.

"Did I ever tell you I was in the army?" he began again. When Hermione nodded, he continued, "did I ever tell you I was captured and held behind enemy lines?"

Hermione's eyes snapped to his, shaking her head when no words would leave her lips.

"Spent over a month being tortured for information I refused to give up before I was finally rescued. When I got back over here, I felt different, like my life didn't fit anymore. I was twenty-four and yet I felt like my whole life had gone on without me. On the outside, everything seemed normal, but on the inside, where it mattered? I was in pieces.

"I didn't know how to make myself better. Alcohol and drugs helped for a time but the more I consumed…"

"… the more you needed," Hermione breathed, a tear finally slipping from her eye.

David nodded, "one night I hit a particularly low point in my life. My old man wanted me to try and get reinstated so I could be deployed again. I'd only even joined because we were a military family and I wanted to make him proud.

"I took a few pills and got drunk off my face before I decided to go for a walk. Didn't even bother checking the news that night, hadn't done so in months. If I had, I'd have seen the news report telling people to stay inside because a few hikers had been mauled to death by some animal."

Hermione knew where this was going but kept quiet, wanting to hear what he had to say and curious as to how he had become the Alpha he was.

"One moment I was stumbling through the underbrush and the next I was waking up in a hospital bed with a nurse telling me it was a miracle I was even alive let alone conscious. It wasn't until my first full moon after being attacked that I realised what had happened and I was shit scared. But, getting turned into a werewolf put my life into perspective. I remembered the pain of my first transformation, remembered having these flashbacks to when I was being tortured; but the pain was somehow  _freeing_.

"When I was human again, I finally realised that if I wanted to be remotely happy in my life, I needed to stop trying to please everyone else around me. I needed to stop putting all of their needs above my own. And I did," he said softly, resting his chin on the top of her head, "I confronted my old man about everything and when he couldn't accept my choices, I packed up and left. Travelled for a while, went to China and studied with a pack of werewolves that also happened to be Monks; that's how I learnt to keep in control of my wolf, to bond with it instead of fighting with it. It wasn't long after that that I had the first dream about my mate."

She could practically feel his lips turning up in a smile, "found her in Alaska, this redhead with a temper as fiery as her hair and just as much passion to go along with it. She showed me what it was like to  _want_ to be selfless, and yet, I knew she'd never expect anything from me I didn't want or have to offer."

"And he showed me that I could love someone with everything I was and still be my own person."

David and Hermione turned to see Kathy walk out of the shadows, her eyes soft as she looked at the both of them. The older woman made her way to Hermione's other side and sat beside her as she wrapped her arm around the younger woman's waist. "We're all a little selfish, Hermione," she continued for her husband, who smiled lovingly at her over Hermione's head. "That doesn't make us bad people. After all, how can we possibly help others, if we never give up time to help ourselves first?" she finished, placing a kiss on Hermione's cheek. "Your friend told me what happened and I knew you'd come up here," she informed Hermione when the younger woman gave her an inquisitive look.

The three of them sat in silence, watching as the stars slowly came out and illuminated the now dark sky. The wind continued to rush around them but Hermione couldn't feel it from where she was sandwiched between her Alpha and his mate. She still held the necklace David had given her, running her finger over it absentmindedly as she stared off into space.

"I want to try save Fred, Sirius, and Mr. and Mrs. Longbottom," she finally said.

"If anyone can do it, it's you," David informed her, parroting Lavender's words from earlier.

"But I have another reason to want to do it."

"And that's okay too, Hermione," Kathy assured her.

"I think my mate is trapped in the Veil."

That gave David pause and he pulled away from her a little so he could look her in the eyes. "You don't sound too sure," he said cautiously, not wanting to upset her so shortly after getting her to calm down.

Hermione shook her head, "I'm almost certain of it," she replied, "there's no other explanation for why I keep finding myself in the Ministry of Magic or why I saw the Veil in my last dream." She gave her head another shake before she turned to look at Kathy, "why did you go to my house, is everything okay?"

Kathy smiled brightly, recalling the actual reason she had been looking for Hermione. "Everything's fine," she assured Hermione, "Lizzy wanted me to see if you'd like to visit her and the twins at the hospital."

"Really?" Hermione gasped, instantly perking up at the mention of the babies. She practically flew from the ground, hoisting David and Kathy up with her in her excitement, "let's go!"

David chuckled as he wrapped a strong arm around his wife, "perhaps we should stop off at your place so you can get dressed?"

Hermione looked down at her worn sweat pants and her black tank top. She wasn't even wearing shoes and knew her Alpha had a point. The hike back to her cottage took a little over forty minutes and Hermione was tackled by Lavender in a bone-crushing hug as the younger woman fussed over her.

She still couldn't believe this was the girl she had never really gotten along with in school. Lavender was so different now, more caring and less focused on the trivial things in life like who was dating who and what lipstick went with which eyeshadow.

"Are you okay?" she asked Hermione, "I put a stasis charm on the food and made a cup of chamomile tea for when you got back."

"I'm fine, Lavender, thank you. I'm actually about to go to the hospital to visit a friend who's just given birth," Hermione explained to the blonde.

"Aww, babies!" Lavender coo'd as Hermione disappeared into her room only to appear a few minutes later dressed in a pair of jeans and a large jacket.

"Would you like to come, dear?" Kathy asked Lavender, "Lizzy won't mind, and Henry is looking for any excuse to show off the twins."

Lavender squealed happily, stopping when David and Hermione cringed at the sound, "sorry," she winced before she grinned, "I'd love to come! Thank you!"

"Shouldn't we leave a note for Ron?" Hermione questioned as they walked out of the house.

"I left one on the bedside table with a pain potion and a glass of water."

"Does he drink often?" Hermione asked, concerned for her friend.

Lavender shook her head, "not really, and it's even more rare that he gets drunk. Usually, it's when he and Harry have been working a particularly difficult case. All that stuff about the Veil just threw him for a loop." She clapped, "enough about that though, we're about to go see some babies! I bet they're as cute as a Pygmy Puff!"

"A what?" David and Kathy asked from where they walked behind the two women.

"I'll explain later," Hermione offered as they walked down the main road in the village, the hospital already visible.

"They are pretty cute," Kathy added, even though she had no idea what a Pygmy Puff was, "and Tommy is thrilled to have two younger sisters."

Lizzy had decided not to find out the gender of the babies, wanting it to be a surprise, though Hermione knew she had been hoping for girls. She couldn't wait to see the twins and the closer they got to the hospital, the faster she walked. Hermione was practically skipping when they entered the hospital and Kathy led them through the halls until they stopped out the front of a private room.

They waited outside as Kathy entered to inform Lizzy that they were there and that they had brought a friend. She appeared a few moments later, grinning widely as she motioned for them to enter.

The room was already filled with congratulatory balloons and bears. In a town as small as theirs, everyone knew everyone and news travelled fast. Hermione had even spied one of Margaret's famous casseroles; the elderly woman obviously having stopped by earlier to offer her congratulations to the beaming couple.

Lizzy was the first-person Hermione saw and she rushed forward to give the tired looking woman a warm hug. "Congratulations," she whispered into her ear, "how did it go?"

"It hurt like all hell," Lizzy smiled drowsily, "they were only born a couple hours ago."

"Wow," Hermione breathed.

"Do you want to meet them?" came Henry's voice from behind her.

Hermione turned to see Henry and David holding a pink bundle each, David gazing down at his bundle softly. Henry stepped forward with the other one and gently placed her in Hermione's awaiting arms. When she had the correct grip, Hermione used her hand to move the fabric aside and reveal the face of the little girl she was currently holding.

"Her name is Jessie," Lizzy smiled, watching her friend gaze down at her daughter in awe, "she's the oldest. David's holding Alyssa."

David walked over to Hermione so she could see Alyssa. Both girls were sleeping soundly, their small faces light like their mothers. They also had their mother's blonde curls. Hermione swore she melted when Jessie yawned, her little mouth stretching before she fell still once more.

"They're beautiful," Hermione whispered, gently running her finger over Jessie's chubby little cheek.

"Hermione," Henry spoke up from where he stood beside Lizzy, "we've known each other for almost a decade now and Lizzy and I can't think of a better person to be Jessie and Alyssa's godmother. Will you accept?"

She smiled as Jessie's hand moved, her fingers curling around Hermione's and squeezing softly. "I'd be honoured," she whispered, not wanting to break the moment by speaking too loudly.

Vaguely, Hermione heard a camera go off, but she was too focused on the small bundle she was currently cradling. David wrapped his free arm around her shoulder, drawing her closer to him so the twins were side by side. She smiled up at him and he returned it with one of his own.

Lavender, Kathy, Lizzy, and Henry shared a smile as they watched the two of them, Kathy snapping up pictures and Lavender taking everything in. She never wanted to forget the look on Hermione's face, especially with the feeling she was getting.

This was a moment of peace. The calm before the storm.

And they were walking into a hurricane.


	3. Chapter 3

Three days had passed since Harry, Lavender, and Ron had found Hermione. Ginny had written another letter to Hermione, this one telling her how sorry the redhead was for what she had said. Ginny said that she hadn't meant to say the things she did the way she had said them and that she was truly happy they'd found her. She had also told Hermione that she and Harry had an almost two-year-old son named James and she was now pregnant again and was due in a little over a month, more than ready for the baby to be delivered.

When Hermione wasn't in the cottage, she was with Lizzy, Tommy, Henry, and the twins, Jessie and Alyssa. The twins had their fathers' eyes and you could already see the light smackering of freckles that dusted their noses just like their older brother. Tommy was beyond thrilled that he was a big brother, but he did complain about the amount of crying the twins seemed to do at night.

Right now, Hermione was going over a few books Minerva had dropped off yesterday. She had been so ready to go to the school, only to get a massive panic attack when she had stepped towards the fireplace to take the floo. As it turned out, instead of dealing with a lot of her problems, Hermione had simply pushed them to the back of her mind. Now, they were happily coming to the forefront of her mind and were wreaking havoc with her emotions. The fact that her magic was sporadic at best didn't help matters.

Lavender had explained everything to Hermione, informing her that suppressing her magic was now having a negative effect on it and that they needed to find a way to safely siphon it before it killed her. Strange enough, this was the one thing that didn't set her anxiety off. The threat of death was morbidly familiar and comforting in a way. Hermione had made Lavender and David swear not to mention it to anyone from the wizarding world until she had dealt with Greyback and the Veil.

The Veil. She had been dreaming and thinking of it more often than not these days. When she wasn't visiting her goddaughters, Hermione was studying all the books on the Veil she could get her hands on. The information was vague at best but she kept meticulous notes and managed to draw her own conclusions.

She couldn't call back the souls trapped within the Veil, they wouldn't be able to cross anyway without a body to return to. Apparently, the Veil fluctuated, weakening and strengthening with the moon cycle. Unfortunately, the wizard who had discovered that little piece of information had disappeared before he could share the correct moon phases with anyone else.

_Not much is known… it is impossible to bring back… the Veil…_

Everything she read was pretty much the same as the next. The only real lead she had gotten was with the moon phases and she had no added information on that so it was just another dead end. Her frustrations only continued to mount the more she read. She rubbed the bridge of her nose, feeling a headache coming on as she went over her notes.

Ignoring the number of people who seemed to think it was impossible to bring people back from the Veil, Hermione now had reason to believe the Veil was indeed some kind of limbo. Her dreams also made her think that limbo just so happened to be an alternate dimension that mirrors there own in every way save the fact that it only housed those who were between life and death. This was an even bigger headache because it meant that, if you could bring people back, you would first have to find them in the mirror dimension.

It was well past midnight when Hermione decided to call it a night. She closed the ancient tomes and placed them neatly on her kitchen counter before she turned the lights off and made her way through the house and to her bedroom. If her search for answers wasn't frustrating enough, Hermione had been experiencing magical outburst over the last few days. Yesterday she had accidentally blown up her coffee table when Lavender had screeched at the sight of a rat scurrying across the floor.

Lavender had been contacting every healer she knew in an attempt to find something that could help Hermione and the older woman was thankful for it, but with every call her heart sunk at the idea that there just might be no stopping what was going to happen.

The dreams she had were her only reprieve, creepy though they might be they also gave her a sense of comfort. Hermione knew this had something to do with her mate, whose face she had yet to see. She couldn't get any distinguishing features due to the dreams being in greyscale and his voice being somewhat distorted.

That didn't mean she didn't shiver when she was wrapped in his arms, her back flush against his chest, as he whispered in her ear. She was embarrassed to admit it, but that part of the dream left her frustrated and aroused to no end when she woke up.

Hermione had tried to deviate from the dream. She had tried to look around, tried to get a feel for the place to see if there were any answers for her there. Ten steps towards the Ministry library was all she had managed before she was suddenly in the same corridor she was always in, her legs pumping as she chased after her mystery mate. The sensation of her heart being tugged on never seemed to go away and Hermione would find herself absentmindedly rubbing her chest throughout the day, a frown turning down her lips as she became lost in thought.

Sighing to herself, Hermione worked her way out of her clothes and into a pair of black sleep shorts and an oversized shirt before she wriggled her way into bed. She lay there, staring up at her ceiling as Ron's snores reached her ears. Having him and Lavender with her over the last few days had helped to relax her a little. Lavender was constantly talking to her about something she had missed in the Wizarding World over the last few years and Ron… well, Ron was Ron. Her best friend whose emotional range had only upgraded from a teaspoon to a tablespoon but she loved him regardless.

Seeing Ron and Lavender together made Hermione wonder how she would be with her mate. Would she love him if he wasn't her mate? That had always bothered her. How much of a choice did she really get when it came to the mate bond? Her wolf would love her mate for the rest of their lives; would she? Hermione didn't think she could stay in a relationship with someone she couldn't love, mate bonds be damned. Her whole life had been dictated for her in some way or another and she refused to let this be another thing she had no control of.

Eventually, exhaustion reared its ugly head and each blink of her eyes became heavier and longer until her eyes closed one last time and she was thrown into the world of dreams.

* * *

_She was standing in the Great Hall. That was new. Her dreams never took her here and she had always been grateful of that. The last time she had seen the room she now found herself in, it was full of bodies, both dead and barely hanging on._

_Now? Now it was full of people laughing and dancing. They wore masks, elaborate and grand like their clothes. She looked down and gasped at the dress she was wearing. It was a mix of lace and sequins, tightly fitted with an inappropriately large split up the right side. It was almost strapless, a lace floral design moving its way up its right side where it curled around like a necklace._

_Her body shimmered like she had been painted in glitter, her skin a golden hue. She found a mirror, conveniently placed to her left, and noticed the delicate lace mask that covered a part of her face. It was black like the dress, the pattern shaping her eyes and seemed to be held up by magic. Which was highly likely. Her hair was put up in a similar manner to how she had worn it the night of the Yule Ball in her fourth year, though there was more hair now than there had been then._

_She stepped forward, her body moving without her permission as she made her way through the crowd of people who paid her as much attention as the next person. A simple nod of acknowledgment before they turned back to their conversation._

_Her feet carried her to the edge of the dancefloor where they stopped and she took in the dancing crowds. It was a sea of colours and expensive fabrics as music filled the cavernous space. Recognizing anyone was impossible with the masks but Hermione still looked to see if she might recognise anyone present._

_That's when her eyes found bright red hair and she felt her heart freeze. "Fred," she whispered, unable to manage anything louder as she looked at the face of someone she had once had a crush on. Of course, that crush had long since fizzled out and Hermione found herself relieved that the familiar tugging in her chest wasn't pulling her towards him._

_Fred saw her and grinned widely, making his way to her until they stood barely a foot from each other. He looked her up and down, his grin softening to a smile as he did. "You look beautiful, 'Mione," he told her simply, "but, why are you here?"_

" _I, uh," she stuttered, not sure what to say or how to explain everything, "I'm working on a way to help those trapped in the Veil."_

_His eyes widened, "can you help me?" he asked eagerly._

" _I'll try, Fred, I promise," she replied._

" _That's all I can ask," he told her, holding his hand out, "come on, Granger," he smirked, "I know you've always wanted to dance with me."_

_She went to protest but he had already moved, grabbing her gently by the wrist to make sure she followed him._

_The song wasn't fast but it wasn't overly slow either as Fred pulled her to him, her chest flush against his. He manipulated her arms so they were around his neck as his large hands fell to her slim waist and squeezed lazily. "You seem different," he commented after a moment of silence._

" _None of us were ever really the same after the war," she mumbled quietly, "I doubt it left anyone untouched."_

_He frowned, a look that didn't belong on his usually joyous face and Hermione wished she hadn't said anything._

" _George misses you," she said, looking away as her eyes perused the Great Hall; she didn't even have to have seen George to know he missed Fred, she knew how close the twins had always been._

" _I miss him too," Fred sighed, "hey, did he ever get with Angelina? He always did have a thing for her."_

_Before Hermione could reply and tell him she had no idea because she had selfishly run away from the wizarding world, she felt a tug on her navel that felt oddly like the sensation one got when they were about to be Portkey'd. She barely had enough time to look back up at Fred before she was being forcefully tugged away._

_Hermione stumbled on the ridiculously high heels before she managed to right herself. She looked up and sighed heavily when she found herself once more at the Ministry of Magic. Before she could do anything, she was suddenly running down the familiar corridors she always did when she was there._

_However, unlike the other times, her mate was nowhere to be seen. She puffed out a breath as she turned another corner only to squeal when strong hands grabbed her waist and pulled her into a dark alcove._

_She was pushed against the wall as a hard, muscular body was pressed to her front and a hand was placed over her mouth to staunch her surprised cry. Her eyes flashed gold at the threat before her wolf sensed her mate's presence and her whole body relaxed._

" _Beautiful," came a whispered voice and Hermione looked up only to frown. His face was bathed in shadow and she could only make out the outline of his lips and the gleam of his eyes. His light eyes, filled with mischief and warmth, screamed at her to remember them; they were so familiar and yet she couldn't, for the life of her, remember why that was._

" _Why can't I know who you are?" she asked as he pressed up against her, his body flush against her own. Her pulse had quickened the moment he had touched her and her arousal had spiked to heights she had never imagined they could spike to._

" _It's not the right time," he answered simply, his voice husky, "but you're smart, Mia, you'll figure it out soon enough."_

" _Can I at least know your name?" she asked breathlessly, he was too close and she was finding it hard to think clearly when she could feel his own arousal pressing against her belly._

" _Too much of a giveaway," her mate mumbled, his voice almost a growl from his own frustration._

_Through her arousal induced haze, Hermione clung to that statement and her eyes widened. "So, I know you." It hadn't been a question and she felt him stiffen slightly before he chuckled, his face only a hairsbreadth away from her now. When had he gotten so close? And how did he manage to still keep his face hidden as he did?_

" _You really are the brightest witch of your age, love," he replied before his lips met hers._

* * *

She awoke with a gasp and a curse before she glared at the owl tapping on her window. The very owl that had woken her up just as her mate had begun to deepen the kiss between them. Her chest rose and fell with her shallow breathes, her body sweaty and a fire ignited in her belly as her skin remembered the feel of his lips on hers. Waking up frustrated and aroused was nothing new to her but she was pissed off too. They had never kissed before and her entire being felt like it was on fire.

The owl was an intimidating thing. It was jet black with a jagged scar on its right eye and looked to be missing a few feathers. Its yellow eyes were narrowed like it hated everything and wanted to be done with its task so it could get far away from her.

It was carrying a pretty decently sized black box. Hermione walked over to the window and opened it wide enough to reach over and remove the box. The whole time, the owl stared at her, somehow managing to make her feel small and insignificant before it gave a loud screech-like hoot and flew away.

"Bloody bird," Hermione muttered as she shut the window and moved back to her bed. She could hear the shower going and could safely assume that Lavender was in the bathroom down the hall, preparing for the day. Hermione spied a small envelope attached to the top of the box and quickly plucked it up to read it.

Her body chilled as she read the neat scrawl of the short note.

_**Looking forward to seeing you at the ball. Wear this or I just might get angry and who knows what I'll do to the temperamental pup.** _

_**F.G.** _

Instead of panic, Hermione felt furious. Greyback was using one of her pack mates to control her and if he even so much as laid a hand on Caleb, she would take great pleasure in ripping his throat out with her teeth. A few days ago, the thought would have made her a little nauseous but Greyback had pushed her too far.

Hermione ripped the lid off the box and glared down at the emerald green dress that lay there innocently even as she paled several shades. It was made from chiffon and lace, with a cluster of jewels on the left side to cinch the dress in at her waist. The dress looked like it would hug her every curve until it reached mid-thigh, where it seemed to flare out and fall softly to the ground. There was an inappropriately large split up the left leg and the back would expose her shoulders and part of her back before it stopped around her waist. What. The. Hell?

Hermione couldn't deny it was a very beautiful dress, but she wanted to tear it to shreds just on principle alone because of who had given it to her.

Of course, she would wear it; Hermione wouldn't do anything to jeopardise Caleb's safety and if that meant following Greyback's request then so be it. That didn't mean she wasn't going to smack that psychotic werewolf good and proper when she finally came face to face with him again. That is, if she didn't freeze like a deer in headlights. No, she vowed, she wouldn't freeze, she had to be brave to get Caleb away from Greyback; alive and unharmed. There were no other alternatives she was willing to accept.

Her brain started going through multiple scenarios as it tried to work out contingency plan after contingency plan, just like she had done during the war. By the time the shower had stopped, Hermione had closed the box and shoved it under her bed. She had also thought of several good plans for getting Caleb back because she  _knew_ Greyback wasn't going to let him go even if he did get his claws on her. He'd either force Caleb to join his pack or he'd kill him. She wasn't going to let either scenario happen.

After a quick, and cold, shower, Hermione made her way out of her room and into the kitchen where Lavender was already preparing breakfast like she did most mornings. Hermione still marvelled at the changes Lavender had gone through since she had last seen her.

Lavender, while still fashion conscience, didn't obsess over her looks nearly as much as she used to. Not that she needed to. Even with the large scars that were visible on her neck and shoulder, Lavender was absolutely beautiful. She stood in Hermione's kitchen, wearing a pair of sweat pants and Ron's old Quidditch jersey as she hummed to herself.

Hermione had noticed that Lavender liked to cook the Muggle way and rarely ever used magic in the kitchen. When Hermione had asked her about that she had simply shrugged and replied with 'it helps me think to do it the muggle way.' Hermione had agreed with that statement. Even before she had begun suppressing her magic, she had done a lot of things the muggle way. It had helped her clear her head and kept her connected to her roots.

The smell of bacon called Ron to the kitchen like a Siren called a Sailor to sea. He was yawning loudly as he sat heavily at the kitchen table, his hair a wild mess and his chest and torso bare. Hermione rolled her eyes when she saw Lavender eyeing Ron, though she smiled behind her mug of coffee. Every morning was like that. Ron and Lavender would practically have sex with their eyes, eat breakfast, and then go have actual sex when they were done. Hermione had taken to running in the mornings for that exact reason; werewolf hearing meant nothing short of a silencing charm would prevent her from hearing them going at it like rabbits. Unfortunately, for her, Lavender and Ron frequently forgot the silencing charm.

"I need to go home and grab something to wear to the ball," Lavender suddenly said as breakfast was coming to a close, "would you like me to grab you something to wear, 'Mione?"

For a moment, Hermione thought about saying yes but remembering the note and what Greyback was capable of, she politely declined. Once the table was cleared and Ron and Lavender had made for their room, Hermione quickly changed into a pair of running shorts and a sports bra. She braided her hair and grabbed her MP3 player before she ran out the door just as Lavender's moan and Ron's satisfied groan reached her ears.

Hermione took the trail she did every time she ran since becoming a werewolf. Usually, she reserved her runs for the evening, but there was only so many things she could listen to and her best friend going at it was not one of them.

Her shoes hit the ground with barely a sound as she pushed herself to run as fast as she could, feeling when her eyes shifted colours as things became sharper. She loved running like this, with everything in high definition as she let her instincts drive her. It was those instincts alone that alerted her to the fact that she was being followed. That and her pursuers weren't very quiet as leaves and sticks crunched beneath their feet.

When the wind blew their scent towards her, she grinned but made sure not to acknowledge that she knew they were there. Hermione turned down her usual path before she quickly scaled the nearest tree.

"Where'd she go?" Holland asked as he, Logan, and Kyla came into view. As the youngest of their pack, they had yet to learn how to move quietly. David had informed her that he was going to send them out after her sometime this week to see how well they did on getting the drop on her. She had seen mischief in his eyes when he had said it but she hadn't thought anything of it and had merely agreed with his order to help him train the pups.

"She was  _literally_ here a moment ago," Logan huffed as he did a circle to try and find her. Hermione sniggered quietly as he threw his hands up and looked at Holland and Kyla for answers.

Kyla was sniffing the air and Hermione was mildly impressed. She shrugged after a moment, "maybe she did that Wizard thing where she disappears and reappears somewhere else? What'd she call it? Apparate?"

"Nah, Hermione says that makes a loud sound, like a whip cracking," Holland replied, "we would have heard it if she had."

Hermione smiled as they talked before, she slowly lowered herself to the lowest branch and waited. Holland spied her first, his eyes widening when he saw her crouching on the branch and took a large step away from Logan who had his back to her. Noticing his movement, Kyla followed Holland's gaze to Hermione and also took a large step away from Logan.

Logan, noticing his friends' behaviour, turned to look at what they were looking at only to be tackled to the ground by Hermione. They rolled along the ground, each one trying to get an advantage over the other before Hermione used her thumb to put a little bit of pressure on Logan's ribs. The younger wolf gasped at the sharp pain before Hermione had him pinned beneath her, her eyes glowing brightly as she used her legs to pin his arms to the side of his body.

"How?" he growled, frustrated.

Hermione sat up, still keeping him pinned, "you're too loud," she explained, "I could hear you the moment you started chasing me. When facing a wolf with more experience than you, you need to take them by supr…"

She was cut off as a large weight slammed into her, knocking her off Logan and into the trees. A large hand cradled the back of her head as a large arm went around her waist and pulled her to a hard chest. Had David's scent not surrounded her, Hermione had been prepared to attack her assailant.

They rolled to a stop, David's form above her own as he let out a full-bellied laugh. "What was that about surprise, pup?" he chuckled as he peered down at her.

"Oh, ha ha," she growled, even as a smile stretched her lips, "get off me. What the hell is Kathy feeding you?"

"Are you calling me fat?" he questioned, his eyebrow raised before he suddenly became limp on top of her.

Hermione let out a  _whoosh_ of air. Four sets of laughter reached her ears as she shoved David off of her. She looked up to see Holland, Logan, Kyla, and Kathy doubled over with laughter. David and Hermione shared a look and a grin before they were on their feet and running at the others. David ran after Kathy, the older woman running down the path that led to their own cottage, her laughter ringing throughout the air before it was cut off by a playful squeal as David caught her and threw her over his shoulder.

Holland, Logan, and Kyla ran as Hermione chased them, her eyes scanning them to see which one was going to deviate from the group first. Holland's head turned slightly and she moved closer to him as he ran off the well-worn path and into the trees. She followed him, hearing Logan and Kyla yelling for him to run as the trees whipped passed them.

Holland wasn't as fast as her but he was clever. He deviated from his path often and Hermione was forced to come to a halt because she had missed the turn he had taken. Her eyes glowed as she chased him, her body preparing to pounce on him the moment she was close enough to do so. Until a scent reached her nose and had her freezing in her tracks.

Not hearing her chasing him any longer, Holland stopped and turned to see Hermione sniffing the air, her shoulders tense. The smell of Earth that assaulted her senses should have calmed her but it was tainted. It smelt like burnt trees and the metallic tang of blood. It was dangerous.

"Holland!" Hermione shouted, too late.

Holland was tackled by a bloody brick wall, a few of his ribs cracking at the impact. The massive weight was on him one second and gone the next as Hermione ploughed into the werewolf with more force than her slim body should have been capable of. She roared at the werewolf, the sound powerful enough to make his own eyes light up and, no doubt, alert the others to the threat.

Logan and Kyla appeared through the trees only seconds later, having been following Hermione and Holland, only to stop at the sight of the massive half-transformed werewolf standing off against their pack mate.

Hermione twitched as she heard Holland whimper. She had heard his ribs cracking and had seen red. "Get Holland out of here and go get David," she ordered in a tone that told them not to even bother arguing with her. When their footsteps faded from her ears, Hermione breathed out a small sigh of relief. The pups were out of danger.

"Who are you?" she questioned, her hackles raised as she glared at the outsider.

The outsider didn't reply, he merely sniffed the air and grinned ferally. "Greyback was right," he grunted, his words washing over Hermione like a bucket of ice water, "you do smell delicious."

"Greyback sent you?" Hermione asked, her heart beating as fast as a hummingbird's wings fluttered. She was supposed to have until the ball in three days. Why would Greyback send one of his lackeys for her now?  _The element of surprise_ , her mind supplied for her.

"I wanted to see what all the fuss was about," the outsider replied. So, Greyback  _hadn't_ sent him. He was a rogue werewolf. Which was more dangerous than if he  _had_ been sent by Greyback.

Without warning, the outsider attacked her. Hermione barely dodged his hulking body. He was roughly the size of David, but where David's size made you feel safe, this werewolf's size told her she was in for a world of pain if he got his claws in her.

For the first time in ten years, Hermione wished she could use her magic. She could safely neutralise the situation without the need for violence with a simple binding spell. Unfortunately, her magic was temperamental at best and downright dangerous at worst. So, they were going to have to handle this the way most werewolf packs did. With a fight. A fight that was not in her favour.

Since becoming a werewolf, David had made sure to teach Hermione how to protect herself. He had taught her to fight even when she had told him she would never have any use for the actual knowledge. Eventually, she had only continued to do it because it had helped her to feel more relaxed, knowing she didn't need her magic to keep her safe had been a blessing. A blessing she hadn't ever thought she would be using.

Hermione brought her leg up and into the werewolf's chest but it had little effect on him. It did, however, allow him to get a hold of her and fling her into a nearby tree. She groaned as she felt two ribs crack, her body slumping to the ground before she quickly rolled over moments before his large foot came down on the spot she had just been.

Picking up a fallen branch as thick as her leg, Hermione brought it down across the outsider's face; thankful that this time it seemed to have an effect. The branch shattered but the force had been enough to daze the werewolf. Hermione took David's main advice as the werewolf tried to get his balance. She ran.  _You only fight until you have the chance to run, and then you run like hell,_ he had told her as he trained her.

Hermione was faster on her feet than the outsider. His hulking frame didn't help any as she jumped over fallen branches, her ribs screaming at her as she refused to stop for even a second.

As she ran, her mind took her back to the woods just before they had been taken to Malfoy Manor. Her heartbeat increased as the outsider vanished and suddenly it was Snatchers chasing her, Harry, and Ron.

Flashes of red flew past her head as she ducked around another large tree, throwing a look over her shoulder to throw a spell of her own.

"Hermione!" she heard Ron shout as he ran beside her, throwing his own spells at the Snatchers.

"Harry!" she yelled, looking for her other best friend as a flash of red barely missed her head. Hermione saw Harry, slightly behind her and to her left. His eyes were hard and yet somehow softened by his concern as he constantly glanced at her and Ron to make sure they were still there and hadn't been caught.

Hermione tripped and fell but quickly scrambled to her feet as an unknown spell hit the spot she had just been. "Confringo!" she screamed, pointing her wand over her shoulder. She vaguely heard a tree explode and a pained scream fill the air but she refused to slow down. She needed to keep going, she needed to keep Harry safe.

But Harry was gone. Where had he gone? He had been running not too far from her only moments ago. And where was Ron? Oh, God, had they been captured?

She threw a look over her shoulder only to scream when she ran into something solid, large arms moving to cage her in. Then they were gone and she heard the sound of something large hitting a tree with a great deal of force. She didn't stop. She  _couldn't_ stop. Hermione  _had_ to find Harry and Ron.

"Hermione!"

It was Ron. Ron was calling her. Where was he?

"Hermione, stop! The cliff!"

The cliff? What cliff? She didn't have time to think or speak when she was suddenly grabbed around the waist as the ground disappeared from beneath her feet. She was pulled back and landed on the ground moments later with the arm still wrapped securely around her waist.

She screamed and fought, she wouldn't go to Malfoy Manor. Not again. She'd rather die.

"'Mione stop," she heard Ron grunt, "Hermione!"

Then. A loud roar. One that shattered the illusion she had been trapped in and brought her back to reality faster than if she had been doused in ice water. Hermione was pressed against Ron's chest, his arm securely around her waist. The cliff she had been sitting on with David and Kathy the night previous was only a foot or so in front of them. Ron's chest rose and fell rapidly against her back and David was crouched in front of her, his head bleeding a little bit.

"What happened? What was that?" Ron asked from behind her. That was when Hermione noticed Lavender standing just behind David, her hand over her mouth as silent tears fell from her eyes.

She coughed as she registered her mate's question. "Hermione was lost in a memory," she whispered.

Hermione felt Ron stiffen behind her and buried her head in her hands. She was mortified that Lavender and Ron had been here to witness one of her major breakdowns. They didn't happen very often, but when they did it was  _bad_.

"Holland?" she asked, her eyes snapping to her Alpha as she recalled her injured pack mate.

David sighed, "he's fine. His ribs are already healing. Marcus and Tully are tracking the Omega; your spell burnt him pretty bad but I doubt we'll find any sign of him and I'll have to have the pack run patrols." He moved closer to her, moving her hair out of her face, "are you okay, pup?"

Hermione wanted to nod, to assure him she was fine. But as she looked into her Alpha's eyes, she knew she couldn't lie to him. She shook her head as her eyes watered and she let out a pitiful sob. She wasn't okay. Ten years had gone by and she thought she was finally passed it all but she wasn't even close.

She didn't remember the walk back through the woods. Nor did she really recall Lavender helping her change and giving her a potion to help her sleep.

She would barely remember the dream she would have; a dream that was so much more. A dream that was a memory.

* * *

_Hermione was slowly creeping down the stairs of Grimmauld Place, cringing every time her foot fell on a board that would let loose an eerie creak. When that happened, Hermione would freeze. She would hold her breath as she listened for anyone who shouldn't be awake at this hour before she continued her slow descent down the stairs._

_Finally, she made it to the bottom and quickly hurried towards the kitchen. Hermione needed a strong cup of tea; she was finding it hard to sleep, her dreams turned nightmares as everything that happened last year plagued her. It was when she had seen Harry leaning over Cedric's head body that she had gasped awake, worried that she might have woken Ginny up only to see the redhead sleeping soundly in the bed across the room._

_She knew she wouldn't be getting back to sleep anytime soon; knew it was unlikely she'd get back to sleep at all. Hermione didn't know how Harry handled having nightmares as regularly as he did; she was still trying to get over the nightmares she had of the Dementors and the Basilisk from her second year._

_Shaking her head, she quietly snuck into the kitchen, not bothering to actually check if anyone was in the room as she made her way over to the cupboard to find the tea she had seen Mrs. Weasley putting away earlier._

" _Shouldn't you be asleep, kitten?"_

_Hermione jumped, covering her mouth to muffle the startled scream as she turned to see an exasperated Remus and an amused Sirius sitting at the kitchen table. Even with Remus glaring reproachfully at Sirius, Hermione didn't miss the small twitch of his lips as he resisted the urge to smile. "Uh," she said dumbly, her mouth opening and closing in a very close resemblance of a fish out of water._

" _Are you okay, Hermione?" Remus asked softly, his eyes looking her over and taking in her haggard appearance._

_She nodded before she saw Remus giving her 'the look' and felt her whole body slump. "It was just a nightmare," she muttered, feeling her face heat up as she said it. She refused to look at either man and was more than happy when someone else entered the kitchen._

_Her blonde hair was up in a messy bun, the blue tips peaking out here and there. A large, Holyhead Harpies jersey drowned her body, hanging off her shoulders and falling to her knees. She didn't seem to notice them, much as Hermione had done, as she snuck over to a small cupboard in the corner of the kitchen._

_Hermione saw Sirius smirk as the occupants of the room heard the woman humming a spy tune out loud as she reached into the cupboard and pulled out a block of chocolate._

" _Well, Moony," Sirius began, "at least we know who's been taking all your chocolate."_

_Like Hermione, the woman jumped at the sound of Sirius' voice; however, unlike her, she was unable to muffle her startled shriek as she turned around with wide, Bambi-like eyes. "Holy Merlin, Sirius!" she breathed, "are you trying to give me a fucking heart attack?!"_

" _Language, Cassie," Remus scolded gently, pointedly looking at Hermione who had been watching the exchange with a small, amused grin._

" _Remy," Cassie whined, "Hermione goes to a school with hundreds of other teenagers; I'm sure she's heard someone cuss before." Cassie leaned over and covered the side of her face to hide it from the two men as she whispered, rather loudly, to Hermione. "Ignore him, Mia," she said, "you know what old men are like."_

_Hermione giggled as she saw the incredulous glare Remus was sending Cassie and the reproachful one he sent Sirius when he heard his best friend chuckling lowly. Her giggling stopped and her face flushed when Sirius looked over at her and winked._

_When things settled down and Cassie had convinced Remus to share his chocolate with her; Hermione had made herself a cup of tea and had sat at the table with the three adults as Sirius and Cassie reminisced about their times at school._

_She was completely unaware of when she fell asleep or how she had gotten from the kitchen to her bedroom when she woke up the next morning._

* * *

Hermione was sitting at her kitchen table with a steaming mug of tea cradled between her hands as she thought about the dream she had just woken up from. She still couldn't believe she had slept through the rest of yesterday and last night.

Cassiopeia Devereux had been one of the many to fall in the final battle. She had been a brave Auror and high-ranking Order member. She and Tonks had attended Hogwarts together, an unlikely friendship that seemed to flourish. Cassie had been a Slytherin but she had proved that not every witch or wizard to enter that house was bad. Cassie had her own chapter in the most recent edition of Hogwarts: A History and had been one of the few idles the Weasley twins had had growing up. She and Tonks had come up with some of the most elaborate pranks, Snape being their unfortunate victim most of the time. Cassie had told her it had stemmed from a dislike for the man due to the way he had treated Tonks and other students in their time at school.

Tonks and Cassie were magically bound, sisters not through blood but something far stronger. When she was around Tonks they were as bad as the Weasley twins and when Bill, Charlie, Tonks, and Cassie got together everyone found something else to do out of the house that day.

"How are you feeling?"

Hermione jumped in her seat and flinched when her mug shattered along with the plates that had been drying on the counter. She mentally cursed herself for Merlin knew how long that she had stupidly suppressed her magic without researching the side-effects. She looked up and saw Lavender smiling sheepishly at her before she removed her wand and flicked it swiftly, the broken plates and mug fixing themselves.

"Sorry," Lavender mumbled as she moved to sit in front of Hermione, "are you feeling any better?"

She didn't want to talk about what happened yesterday but she also didn't want to be rude so she replied with a simple, "I'm fine."

The beautiful thing about this new Lavender was that she knew when not to push. At Hermione's answer, she nodded her head and went about making another pot of tea.

They sat in relative silence as they drank their tea, Lavender breaking the silence occasionally to talk to Hermione about trivial things. Hermione would nod and hum in reply but her mind was elsewhere as she took careful sips of her tea; relishing the slight burn before her Lycan blood would heal it and the pain would vanish. She was worried about Holland, she hadn't had a chance to go and check up on the pup since the accident and although her Alpha had assured her he was okay, Hermione needed to see it for herself.

Inside of her head, her wolf was restless for very much the same reason as Hermione. She wanted to check on their injured packmate and the longer Hermione sat at the table and drank tea, the more restless her wolf became. It shouldn't have been a surprise then, when her wolf suddenly managed to get control of their body.

"'Mione?" Lavender asked cautiously, watching as Hermione's hands tightened around the mug of tea as her nails grew into claws. The younger woman watched in growing concern and awe as Hermione's eyes flashed gold and a primal power filled the room. "'Mione?" she tried again, her voice barely a whisper as she looked at the semi-transformed werewolf sitting in front of her. She prayed to Merlin that Ron wouldn't wake up now, Lavender had no idea how much of Hermione was still in control and how much was the wolf.

Her head snapped to Lavender who immediately tilted her head to expose her neck when she heard the older woman growl. Hermione was beside her in a moment and it took every ounce of self-control to keep herself from shrieking at the sudden movement. Lavender tried to control her breathing as Hermione continued to growl lowly at her. She whimpered and tilted her head more, exposing more of her neck in a sign of submission.

Lavender could have cried out her relief when she felt Hermione's teeth on her throat, gripping tight enough to pinch but not to pierce the skin. She did cry out when she felt something inside of her snap into place and watched as Hermione recoiled slightly at the sound before she nuzzled Lavender's cheek with her own. Lavender closed her eyes and nuzzled back before Hermione was suddenly gone and she was left there to wonder what the hell had just happened.

Hermione, on the other hand, had run from the cottage as fast as she could; sniffing the air, she turned in the direction that smelled the most like the injured pup. She howled into the air as she ran and her wolf hummed when another howl answered her before she ducked into the forest. The scent of her pup was close and Hermione skidded to a halt out front of a decrepit looking house in the middle of a clearing.

Her head cocked to the side, she eyed the house incredulously. There was no way this was where her pup lived; there were no windows and the door looked like it was barely holding on. But it smelled like him and she could hear his heart beating furiously inside as he whimpered. The scared sound had her running into the house with inhuman speed as she practically appeared out of nowhere in the room he was sleeping in.

He was curled up in the corner of the room, his body shivering from the cold even with his heightened temperature. His face was pinched and tears fell from his eyes, staining his dark skin, as he tossed slightly. Hermione stepped forward cautiously, her head still tilted as her gold eyes brightened. She kneeled before the pup and the salty scent of his tears invaded her nose. She could smell his distress and it stirred something inside of her; the need to take care of the lonely pup was strong and Hermione found herself lying beside him.

She placed an arm under his head and reached across his waist before she pulled him closer to her. The pup whimpered again and she growled lowly; it was a growl that held nothing but protectiveness and concern as she pulled him flush against her body. His whimpering died down as his head found her neck and he buried his nose at the juncture there where her scent was strongest. His arms moved, one wrapping around her waist and the other placed between their joined bodies as his hand fisted the fabric of her top. She placed her body between the sleeping pup and the door, protecting him from anyone who might enter that night as she continued to growl lowly.

The wolf found the witch and showed her the image of the pup and the house he currently resided in and watched as her eyes widened before they saddened.  _This is unacceptable,_ she told the witch lowly, her eyes flashing brighter in her anger.

 _I agree,_ the witch replied and not for the first time, the wolf was proved that she had chosen correctly with her human counterpart.

 _Tomorrow,_ she assured the witch,  _tomorrow we shall help our pup._

The witch didn't reply but she could feel her agreement before she fell quiet and she turned her own attention back to the still pup sleeping soundly against her. Their combined warmth kept the cold at bay and she pulled him impossibly closer as the steady rhythm of his heart lolled her to sleep.

* * *

It had been a long time since Holland woke up without feeling cold. It would have been before he had been turned, before his parents had kicked him out and told him never to return for something he couldn't control. He moved closer to the source of his warmth before he stiffened and tried to scramble back. A low warning growl had him freezing in his spot as he looked up with wide eyes to see Hermione looking down at him, her eyes glowing brightly.

Holland had rarely seen a wolf in control of their human body when it wasn't a full moon but the sharp canine, the claws, and the glowing eyes were an obvious sign that Hermione wasn't currently in control. Not only that, but the smell of earth that accompanied all of their pack members was stronger at the moment. Beneath it, however, Holland could smell something else and his wolf keened at the smell. It smelt like warm milk and honey and it made Holland feel safer than he had ever remembered feeling. The smell was comforting and made him move closer to the she-wolf.

His actions seemed to make the she-wolf happy because her growling stopped and she chuffed lowly as she smiled softly at him. He moved back into her arms and felt himself tear up when she wrapped her arms around him protectively. His mother used to do the same thing when he was little and frightened of the monsters under his bed; of course, that was before he had become the monster. He couldn't remember the last time he had been hugged like this; sure, Kathy always smothered the pups of the pack in hugs, the woman having natural maternal instincts. But it felt different with Hermione, his wolf was calling for her in a way it hadn't done to anyone else in the pack.

It wasn't romantic. If Hermione was to be his mate, Holland would have recognised it by now. This was something else, something more. He could feel the bond forming between them as she ran her fingers through his short black curls as the other hand ran up and down his back, making him relax against her and keen lowly.

The moment ended abruptly when there was a loud noise that sounded like a firecracker going off before a figure appeared in the darkened house. It was still early, the sun hadn't even begun to rise but it was the same time Holland would always wake up because it was usually the coldest part of the night and he wouldn't be able to sleep any more.

Hermione had Holland shoved in the corner with her standing protectively in front of him in less than a second and Holland blinked at how quickly she seemed to move. She snarled lowly, her whole body on alert as she kept her eyes on the darkened figure. Before Holland could get a good look at the person, Hermione was pouncing on them, tackling them to the ground as she continued to snarl and growl. Whoever it was didn't move to attack her or defend themselves, instead, they tilted their head to the side and exposed their neck to the pissed off she-wolf.

Holland watched as Hermione snapped at their neck in a warning before she leant forward and began sniffing at them. He watched as a moment later she basically flew from the person, her eyes wide and back to their usual amber tones. It would see the witch was back in control of her body and her hands were shaking as she looked at the person she had just tackled. Her features were pale like she had just seen a ghost or something and Holland felt his wolf whimper when he caught sight of her tears.

"Hermione?" he asked, slowly moving towards her as the urge to comfort her grew.

She shook her head, her lost eyes moving to look at him, "i-it's impossible," she breathed.

Holland turned when he heard the figure move and watched as they stood to their feet and dusted themselves off. "I know it's been a while and I was always your favourite, but did you have to jump me, Mia?" a soft voice spoke through the darkness before a light filled the room and Holland had to blink to adjust his vision. "I'm flattered, really, but I'm afraid I'm spoken for, sweetie," the owner of the voice continued, a soft smile stretching their lips as their eyes took in Hermione in her entirety.

"You… I… what… how…" Hermione stuttered and Holland placed his hand on her arm in a silent show of support as she tried to get her bearings.

"What? No hug for your old friend?"

Hermione ran forward the next moment, her feet taking her across the room in less than a second as she slammed into the person and clung to them like she was afraid they'd vanish. Holland watched as she cried into the persons chest, her hands tightly clasping the black velvet robes as she buried her nose in the fabric and inhaled deeply.

Holland scented the air; he could smell the electricity that came with all witches and wizards but he could also smell smoke. Not the smoke from a cigarette but the smoke that usually accompanied a fire. Was this person a fire-fighter? Did wizards have fire-fighters? What other reason could they possibly have for smelling like smoke?

"I… I…" Hermione tried to get out but the person shushed her gently as they ran their fingers through her hair.

"It's okay, love, I'm here now," they said softly, "I'm here."

Then, the person looked up, their piercing grey eyes meeting his russet ones as the hugged Hermione tightly. They studied him closely before they smiled just as softly as they had at Hermione. "Hello," they said easily, holding their hand out for him to shake, "my name's Cassie."


	4. Chapter Two

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, so this chapter is a long time overdue chapter but I kept writing it because I didn't like how it was going. Then I got writers block which was a pain in the arse. Now? Well, I still don't particularly like the way this chapter ended up but I'm hoping you guys don't mind it too much. Next chapter will be a time skip to a couple hours before the ball and we'll finally have Hermione face off with Greyback; then, it's only a few more chapters before Sirius makes his appearance.   
>  Well, real Sirius and not dream Sirius. Again, sorry for the long wait and I hope you guys enjoy this new chapter.

"I cannot believe you, Cassiopeia!" Lavender yelled at the older woman sitting before her on the couch next to a potion-induced-calm Hermione. "Showing up here two days before Hermione has to go to a party where we hope to catch a deranged werewolf obsessed with her has to be one of the stupidest plans you've had over the years!" she continued, her hands on her hips and her face turning a steady shade of red.

"It was either me or Nym," Cassie shrugged, unaffected by the angry woman pacing in front of her.

Lavender turned to glare at her. "At least Hermione knew Tonks was alive!" she replied, "you could have caused Hermione to have a shock induced magical outburst!"

"So?" Cassie asked, her eyebrows furrowing, "we've all had those, Lavender."

"Hermione hasn't used her magic in ten years and it's becoming increasingly unstable," Lavender growled, "strong emotions increase the magical outbursts and I'm pretty sure had I not shoved a calming draught down her throat we'd all be having a very different conversation right now; in fact, we may not be having a conversation at all."

That gave Cassie pause, the older woman throwing a weary glance at Hermione before she looked to the teenager sitting on the other side of the witch she had come to see as a sister. Holland, she remembered him introducing himself as such; one of Hermione's pack mates. The boy seemed unusually attached to the curly haired witch, but Cassie had yet to comment on it; though, she did make a mental note to ask Remus about it later. Surely, he would know what was happening around here.

"Have you found a way to siphon the magic?" Cassie asked, weariness giving way to concern for the younger witch at the thought of what could happen to her if her magic was left the way it was. Hermione was basically a living nuclear bomb and all it would take was a small slip to set her off. The thought was even more terrifying when you factored in that Hermione was a powerful witch long before she had even left Hogwarts; it was scary at times but none more so than it was right now.

Lavender glared at her again, "if I had found a way to do that don't you think I would have done it by now?" she growled, her eyes flashing gold for a split moment and taking Cassie by surprise. Usually, Lavender couldn't display her Lycan traits without the full moon but that slip of the wolf had very much happened and it only further served to increase her weariness. She would definitely have to talk to Remus; she had a bad feeling about everything happening right now.

A cough from beside Hermione had the two women looking to the young boy who was eyeing them all skeptically before he spoke up. "Can I take Hermione to her room?" he asked, looking at the witch who had yet to utter a word since Cassie had popped into the cabin he had been living in for over a year.

"Of course," Lavender answered softly, the anger in her eyes vanishing as she looked at Hermione, "I'll be with you in a moment to check on her."

Holland nodded before he scooped his pack mate into his arms and made his way down the hall. He had never been this far into Hermione's home but could tell which room hers was because of how strongly it smelt of her. When he entered her room, Holland gently placed her down on the bed and covered her with the blankets before he crawled in with her and curled up by her side.

Silently, Hermione wrapped her arms around his body and pulled him impossibly closer, rubbing her cheek on his as he whined softly. His inner wolf called for her own in a way that both frightened and soothed Holland as he allowed Hermione to scent him. He could still hear Lavender and Cassie arguing down the hall and when he looked up at Hermione, he noticed she too was listening to the two witches.

"Are you okay?"

Her voice was barely a whisper and sounded hoarse to his ears. Holland nodded at her but promptly began shaking his head when she raised her eyebrow at him. In truth, he was embarrassed and scared. For over a year he had lived in their small village in that decrepit little cabin without anyone knowing about it. Now? Now, Hermione had found out his closely guarded secret and he was afraid about how she would react. Would she think less of him knowing that he didn't have the money to find a place of his own? Or, would she be disappointed in him for not seeking out the help of his pack mates?

He had thought about it; telling David about his living situation. But he knew David and Kathy would offer their home and it had never felt right to Holland. He had had a home; a nice home, with a nice mom and a nice dad. All of that had been stolen from him the night he had been bitten. When he had come home, crying about being attacked by some kind of animal because he had wanted to stay out after his own curfew, his mother and father had been understandably worried. By the time the next full moon had rolled around and he had gone through his first transformation, his parents had been disgusted and afraid of him.

Holland could still remember his mom screaming when he had tried to hug her; had recalled staring down the barrel of his father's shotgun as he was threatened within an inch of his life if he didn't leave their home. They hadn't even given him enough time to pack his things; his dad had merely thrown him a roll of cash he had been saving and sent him on his way.

So, no, asking David had always been completely out of the question and Holland knew if he asked anyone else than word would get back to David anyway. So, he had kept it hidden and he had been doing so well; until last night. Something in Hermione had awoken last night; Holland didn't know what, but he knew that his wolf now called to hers. He wanted to be close to her, to make her happy, to keep her safe, and to show her just how much he valued her. The affection wasn't instantaneous; out of all of the pack members, Holland had always been closest to Hermione. She was kind to him in a way the others weren't, not that they were mean or anything, but Hermione just seemed to go that extra mile. The fact that both of them were potentials helped to bond them as well.

"Why didn't you tell anyone you didn't have a place to stay?" she continued when he didn't speak, "I'm sure Kathy wouldn't have minded you staying with her and David."

After a moment's hesitation, Holland proceeded to explain everything to Hermione. He watched her face closely as he spoke; watched as her eyes flashed gold and her canines elongated at the mention of his parents. Heard the low, dangerous growl that offered him more comfort than it did scare him. Her arms tightened around him as he went on to explain why he hadn't sought out their alpha and when he was done, they fell into a comfortable silence.

"Do you still feel that way about Kathy and David?" Hermione eventually asked.

Holland sighed, not wanting to sound ungrateful towards their alpha but not wanting to lie to Hermione either. "Yes," he replied solemnly.

"What about me?" she asked, surprising him and making his eyes snap to hers to see her already watching him closely.

"What?" he asked dumbly.

Her lips twitched at his question before she continued. "If I were to offer you a home with me," she said, "would you feel comfortable enough taking it?

Holland fell silent as he thought about her question. He was thankful when Hermione remained quiet, not trying to get him to reply when he wasn't ready. She simply ran her fingers through his dark curls, humming a tune he didn't quite recognize as she allowed him to think. As he had thought earlier, there was something different with Hermione. Something that had come on suddenly last night and whatever it was, his wolf called for hers. But it was more than that; because he called for her too. Hermione reminded him of the best of his mother; kind, caring, intelligent, and humble. She didn't coddle him, but she was always there when he needed her too, the incident with the rogue werewolf yesterday was just one of many examples.

Yesterday was the first time Holland had ever seen Hermione look so fierce and dangerous. When she had stood protectively in front of him and faced down a werewolf much bigger than her, he had felt his heart swell with affection. Holland couldn't help but compare her to a mother in that moment; she truly had resembled a mother wolf looking after her pup.

"Yes," he found himself saying before he completely finished his own thoughts, but he wouldn't have taken it back; especially when he saw the bright smile that practically lit up her face at his answer.

"Good," she nodded, resuming the gentle motion of running her fingers through his hair. Her whole body seemed to relax, and so did Holland as Hermione continued to speak. "We can organize the spare room a little later," she told him softly, "Lavender can conjure up anything we'll need until we can go shopping for new stuff."

"That's really not necessary, Hermione," Holland tried to protest only to be cut off by the witch shaking her head.

"Maybe not, but I want to do it, Holland," she told him simply, "please, allow me this much."

He was going to say something else but was stopped when Lavender entered the room hesitantly. He watched as she looked to Hermione, hesitating at the door, before Hermione seemed to give her a firm nod and she hurried the rest of the way into the room and over to the bed. Holland wasn't sure about Lavender, but his wolf told him she could be trusted; told him that Hermione trusted her and that was good enough for him. Still, he watched her closely as she moved over to the bed and sat on the edge of the mattress.

Holland tried to pull away from Hermione, embarrassed at how closely Lavender seemed to be observing them embracing the way they were but Hermione simply tightened her grip around him and growled lowly at Lavender. He watched as the blonde quickly lowered her gaze and exposed her neck to Hermione who calmed instantly. Holland's mouth gaped at the blatant display of submission and he doubted it had anything to do with Lavender being an omega.

"How are you feeling, Hermione?" Lavender asked after a moment.

"I'm fine," she answered softly, finally letting Holland go as she sat up in the bed and leaned against the headboard as she glanced at Lavender, "thank you for the calming draught."

Lavender preened at the thank you and Holland's eyes narrowed suspiciously; he'd seen that before, but there was no way it was for the same reason. That was just impossible and could very well be dangerous if anyone in the pack found out. "You're welcome," she said, "Ron left for London before you came back so you don't need to worry about him finding out about anything. Cassie really shouldn't have come," she continued with a frown.

"Why didn't you or Ron tell me she was alive?" Hermione asked, her eyes narrowing at the blonde, "I can understand why you might have thought it best not to, but Ron knows how much Cassie means to me. She's like the big sister I always wanted, and he should have told me she was alive."

"Would you have stayed here if he had?" Lavender questioned seriously, "Ron didn't think it was the right time to tell you because he knew you'd want to go back to London to make sure he was telling you the truth. Harry thought the same thing and told us both to hold off on telling you until after the ball."

"That wasn't Harry's choice," Hermione replied, "but… I can see why he did it. Where is Cassie anyway?"

"She'll be back," Lavender assured her, "she said she needed to talk to Remus about a few things but that she would return before tonight."

"You should invite her to the bonfire," Holland inserted, gaining the attention of both women.

"Bonfire?" Lavender asked, her curiosity peaked.

Hermione nodded, "it's something we do when pack members go away for any amount of time; we do it in the field we use for our transformations. David already said you and Ron were welcome to come, I just forgot to bring it up.

"Why did Ron go to London, by the way?" Hermione asked, not recalling having heard of any reason for him to need to go to London.

"He needed to go back to plan a few things with Harry for the ball," Lavender explained, "he might not make it back tonight, but I'd be more than happy to see a pack bonfire. I've only read about them."

"Packs are private about these kinds of things," Holland explained to Lavender, "we don't tend to like outsiders witnessing them."

"Why?" Lavender questioned, "if more people were allowed to witness these things, Werewolves wouldn't be considered the monsters everything seems to believe they are."

Holland fell quiet at her words, his mind going back to his parents and the way his mother had screamed at him after his first transformation. Hermione, sensing his distress, whined softly to get his attention; her eyes flashing gold when he looked at her. His own eyes glowed a similar gold and she watched his body slowly relax as their pack bond calmed him. "You'll see why we keep these things to ourselves tonight, Lavender," Hermione told her, "but you are not to speak a word of it to anyone else unless David says you can; understand?"

Lavender nodded quickly, too excited about the prospect of witnessing a werewolf ritual to realize she had felt compelled to follow Hermione's order. When Lavender was finished looking over Hermione, she left the two werewolves to rest as she made her way into the kitchen.

Hermione waited for the sound of Lavender beginning to make tea before she turned to look at Holland. She laid back on the bed, her arms held to the side in a silent offer and preened when Holland immediately moved to huddle up beside her. She held him closely, moving her hands through his curls as her eyes became heavy.

* * *

_This wasn't her usual dream. Not even close. She was in the woods surrounding their village, running through the trees as light footsteps trailed behind her. Hermione took a moment to register that she was as naked as the day she was born before she focused back on running. She could smell her mate behind her, chasing her, and her wolf howled at the thrill of the chase._

_She took a right and broke the tree line, stopping in the middle of the pack's usual clearing. He entered a second later, but she didn't run; he had proven himself worthy of her when he had kept up easily with her. Her gold eyes kept forward, her wolf more than aware that she had to let her mate come to her and needed to show her trust for him._

_That didn't mean her heart wasn't threatening to beat its way out of her chest in anticipation for what was to come._

_Her eyes fluttered closed when his calloused hands lightly touched her bare forearms, gently stroking the warm flesh with his fingers. He took a step closer his chest flush against her back and his arousal rubbing against her backside. Hermione tilted her head, exposing her neck to him in a sign of trust and moaned when his blunt teeth lightly bit at the skin before his lips gently kissed the heated flesh._

_His hands had moved from her arms to her shoulders, pulling her impossibly closer as he continued to pepper her neck and shoulder with kisses and nips. Hermione growled when he bit a particularly sensitive part of her neck before it quickly teetered off into a moan as he thrusted against her._

_His hands gently urged her to her knees and Hermione eagerly obeyed, impatient and wanting to move this along. She knew better though, her mate needed to set the pace; it was him who got to decide how fast or how slow they went. This time._

_He was kneeling behind her, one of his hands moving to press gently between her shoulder blades as he urged her to lower the top half of her body. Hermione did so, pressing her chest into the warm earth as she raised her hips; her hands gripped the rich soil beneath her palms as she preened for him._

" _So beautiful," he whispered as his hand trailed languidly down her spine, drawing a shiver from Hermione. His other hand was tightly gripping her hip, his fingers digging into the skin tight enough to leave bruises if she didn't have advanced healing. He leaned over her, pressing his full weight against her back as he bit at the back of her shoulder and Hermione rocked back into him, moaning as her sex rubbed against his hard cock. When her mate groaned, she repeated the action her body reacting to the physical contact. "Patience, love," he groaned into her ear before he straightened himself._

" _Please," she moaned, begging for him to do what they both wanted him to do. She was ready, oh Merlin was she ready. Repeating her earlier action, Hermione felt her mate's cock twitch and his breath hitch._

" _Fuck it," he muttered croakily before he was suddenly thrusting into her._

* * *

Hermione was awoken by the wards Lavender had set up for her warning her that someone had come through her Floo. Her body was soaked by sweat and the wetness and tingling between her thighs forced a groan from her lips as she buried her head in her pillow. The room smelt of her arousal, but Hermione detected the other scents from whoever had come through her Floo.

She was out of her bed and down the hall before the newest occupants even had time to greet Lavender who had come out of the kitchen. Hermione shot forward, wrapping her arms around Remus' shoulders before she buried her nose in his neck and inhaled deeply. Her wolf whined as it smelled the wolfsbane Remus poisoned himself with every month before it preened at the familiar Earthy smell that all Werewolves had. She felt her eyes change and her teeth elongate as her wolf urged her to mark the omega like she had done Lavender the previous night.

Before she could follow through with her wolf's wishes, Hermione jumped back from Remus; rushing to the opposite side of the room as she breathed heavily. Her wolf was growling angrily in her mind, demanding that she mark the omega and make him a part of their pack. She shook her head, arguing that only an alpha could accept wolves into a pack, and she wasn't an alpha. All she received in reply was a sarcastic snort and another low growl.

"'Mione?"

Her head snapped up at the sound of Lavender talking to her and her golden eyes locked on the young witch who had moved to stand in front of her. She growled lowly and watched as Lavender exposed her neck to her, her wolf preening at the show of submission. She hummed at the witch, her body calming enough for her canines to retract and her eyes to flicker back to their original amber tones.

Hermione looked past Lavender and smiled sheepishly at the three adults standing by her Floo. Cassie and Remus seemed dumbstruck, but Tonks returned the smile brightly before she bounced across the living room, tripping over the coffee table before righting herself and closing the distance between her and Hermione.

"Watcha, 'Mione," she grinned, throwing her arms around the witch without any hesitation, pulling her close to her in an almost bone-crushing hug.

"Tonks," she breathed, inhaling the smell of warm milk and spiced apples. The warm milk she had smelt on several other mothers, but the spiced apples was inherently Tonks and Hermione reveled in the smell as she returned the hug eagerly.

"Mia."

Tonks stepped back and Hermione looked to Remus who was cautiously making his way towards her, his movements exaggerated so not to startle her wolf. The action wasn't needed, her wolf was playfully bouncing around in her head at the sight of the other werewolf and Hermione had the sudden urge to play. "Remus," she smiled softly, her eyes flashing gold again as her wolf begged her to let them play with the older wolf.

Hermione placed her hand on the back of Remus' neck and pulled him down so their foreheads were touching. She closed her eyes and inhaled deeply, hearing him do the same for a moment before they both opened their eyes and gold connected with pale yellow. Her wolf whined at the sight, saddened that Remus was choosing to poison his wolf instead of embracing him. It made Hermione frown, but she quickly replaced it with a tender smile as she watched his eyes change and confusion etch itself across his face. Poor Remus had no idea why he had reacted to her the way he had; no idea why the instincts he tried to fight had suddenly reared up at the sight of her.

"Not to break up the moment or anything, but does someone want to clue the rest of us into what the hell just happened?" Cassie asked from behind them and Hermione looked past Remus in time to see Tonks elbow her best friend in the ribs.

Remus took a step back and Hermione wanted to pull him back to her and scent mark him so that others would know he was a part of  _her_ pack. She shook her head, wondering when she had become so possessive and when she had started considering Lavender and Holland her  _pack_. Holland she could understand, he was her pack mate, but the term no longer felt right; it felt like calling him a pack mate just didn't quite describe what he was to her. Lavender made even less sense considering she wasn't even a full wolf. How could Hermione think of her as pack when they had only just reconnected? It made no sense and the confused look on Remus' face wasn't reassuring her in the slightest.

"It's pack reaffirmation."

Everyone looked to Holland who had just entered the room, his hair wet and wearing nothing but a pair of black sleep pants. She heard Remus growl at the unknown wolf and Hermione returned it with one of her own; her eyes flashing in warning as she took a step towards Holland. Remus looked at her before he stopped growing and tilted his head in submission. Hermione nodded, the urge to mark him still strong but she fiercely ignored her persistent wolf in favor of moving over to Holland.

"You weren't in my room when I woke up, pup?" she said, the questioning lilt clear in her voice as she waited for him to answer her.

Holland blushed a deep shade of red and looked down at his feet. "I, uh, thought I'd leave you alone when you began… moaning," he muttered, rubbing the back of his neck as he tentatively met her gaze.

She could hear Cassie, Tonks, and Lavender sniggering and sent them all a glare over her shoulder before she looked back at Holland. Seeing and smelling the boy's embarrassment, Hermione decided to change the subject. "What did you mean by pack reaffirmation?" she questioned him as she motioned for everyone to take a seat and watched as Lavender moved into the kitchen to make some tea.

"When pack members haven't seen each other in a long time, they spend time scent marking one another as a way to reaffirm their bonds," he told them all, his eyes on Hermione even as he felt every other pair of eyes boring into him. "Usually the alpha instigates the scent marking and the beta will follow their lead," he finished simply.

"But I'm not an alpha," Hermione stated firmly, her eyebrows furrowed as her eyes moved to the three adults sitting across from her, "and Remus is an omega."

"Your wolf doesn't think so," Holland retorted, "she wants Remus in your pack like she wanted me, and she wanted Lavender. It's why you marked us both last night," he explained.

"But you feel different to Lavender," Hermione informed him confusedly, "I don't understand."

"Your wolf has decided the roles your betas will play in your pack, pup," came a deeper voice from behind them, "she sees Lavender as the Den Mother and has bonded with Holland on a more maternal level. This is what I was going to talk to you about after the full moon."

Everyone had moved at the sound of David's voice; Tonks, Cassie, and Remus raising their wands and Hermione moving to protect Holland before she realised there was no threat to them. Her body relaxed inch by inch and Hermione moved back to her previous position on the sofa as she exposed her neck to David. Her wolf growled at the action, no longer happy being so submissive to the older man now that they had their pack to protect and nurture. She needed to show her pack who was in control and it was not the alpha standing in front of her.

"I don't understand," she muttered, motioning for the others to put away their wands and sit down.

"For the last few months I've noticed you've been exhibiting more and more signs of a natural born alpha," David explained as he moved to sit next to Hermione. "Kathy and I have been talking," he continued, "we have plans to retire; to travel and see the world a bit."

"But the pack needs you," Hermione argued.

David smiled, "not if they have you," he retorted.

The abrupt laugh that fell from Hermione's lips made everyone jump save for David who had already expected a similar reaction. He hadn't been lying when he had said she would be the next alpha. For months now, he had watched her and how she interacted with their pack and had known that she would be the best option for alpha once he relinquished his status.

"You can't be serious," she said once she had stopped laughing. When David merely glanced at her, Hermione felt her heart stutter, "you c _an't_ be serious! I-I'm not an Alpha, David!"

"Not yet," he replied simply, "but you will be, Hermione; and you'll do fabulously, pup."

Hermione groaned, placing her head in her hands as a weight fell onto her shoulders. "Will I ever be able to make my own choices?" she asked resignedly, "my whole life; all my choices seemed to have been made for me, when will my life be my own?"

David sighed heavily; he knew the responsibility he was placing on the young wolf, but he and Marcus had agreed that there was no one better to take up the mantel of Alpha. However, she needed to know that the choice was still very much hers. He'd never dream of forcing her to do something she didn't want to do, not with everything she had been through in her life.

Kneeling in front of Hermione, David placed his large hands on her small knees and squeezed them gently. "The choice is yours, pup," he told her gently, "and you have time to make it. If you chose not to take up the position, I'll begin training one of the others to do so."

"Why me?" she asked, her voice small like a child as she peaked out between her fingers.

David gave her a soft smile, "because you're everything an alpha should be. Kind, loyal, protective, intelligent, and a natural born leader. You encompass everything I had spent  _years_  trying to do so and you had done so long before you had received the bite, Hermione.

"You don't have to decide now," he told her, "enjoy tonight and get everything sorted with Greyback before you chose what you want to do."

"And I can say no?" she asked delicately.

"I'd never force you to do anything you weren't comfortable with," he assured her, wrapping her up in his large arms as Hermione buried her head in his neck and inhaled his soothing scent.

They were interrupted when someone cleared their throat and Hermione looked up in time to see Tonks elbowing Cassie in the ribs. The other woman glared over at her best friend as she gingerly rubbed her ribs before she looked back at Hermione. "As touching as this is," she began, her eyes softening to show Hermione she wasn't trying to be rude, "what the hell is happening tonight?"

Tonks and Remus rolled their eyes at Cassie's blunt way of putting the question but couldn't deny that they were both just as curious. Hermione sent David a questioning look and he smiled and gave her a nod in reply. She grinned, practically bouncing in her seat as she turned to look at them, her earlier stress and sadness gone for the time being. "We're having a bonfire," she beamed, "and you're all welcome to come if you'd like."

Remus' eyes widened at the words. Pack Bonfires were a very private event, usually only reserved for pack members and their mates. It was a very rare occurrence when outsiders were actually allowed to witness one and, as reserved as he was about being around more werewolves, the scholar in him wished very much to attend the nights festivities.

"Would I be allowed to invite my husband?" Cassie questioned, a mischievous glint in her eyes, "I'm sure he'd never forgive me if I attended such an event without him."

"As long as no one reveals our secrets," David rumbled in an authoritative tone, "I see no problem in bringing him with you." He turned to look at Remus and Tonks before he continued, "Hermione tells me you have a pup of your own; you're more than welcome to bring him with you tonight. I'm sure the other pups would be thrilled to meet him."

Tonks was smiling but Remus was furiously shaking his head. "Absolutely not," he said, "my son is  _not_  going  _anywhere_  near a pack of werewolves."

Hermione, David, and Holland frowned at his words and Hermione felt hurt blossom in her chest that he didn't trust her to be around Teddy. He hadn't outright said it, but if he was against Teddy attending tonight because of werewolves than what chance would she have of seeing the young boy? She didn't allow the hurt to show on her face, however, and instead, turned to look at David who was giving Remus a look of annoyance but understanding.

"The pup hasn't shown signs of his Lycanthropy yet, has he?"

Hermione didn't think Remus could get any more tense, but she was proven wrong after David had asked the question. Tonks was no longer smiling; her face having taken on a look of confusion but her body remaining relaxed as she looked between David and Remus. "What are you talking about?" she asked, "Teddy was tested when he was a baby; he doesn't have lycanthropy."

"Lycanthropy can't be detected before a child nears puberty," Hermione informed them gently, "once they do, they'll either come into their werewolf inheritance or they'll merely develop lycanthrope traits."

Tonks seemed to be taking everything in stride; however, Remus was the exact opposite of his wife and had paled several shades. The paleness of his face made his scars more pronounced and Hermione watched as a mirade of emotions crossed his face.

Fear. Anger. Horror. Guilt.

"Remus," Hermione tried, standing to approach the older man only to frown as he flinched away from her. Hurt blossomed in her chest once more but she backed away and sat back in her chair once more as she watched Tonks and Cassie turn to him.

"Remy," Cassie began, placing her small hand on his shoulder, "you okay, bud?"

"Am I okay?" Remus scoffed, glaring at Cassie. Hermione had never seen Remus give Cassie such an angry look and Cassie had done a lot of things that would be considered worthy of such a look. "I've cursed my son to become a monster like me, Cassiopeia, do you honestly think I'm okay?"

Hermione's eyes widened when Cassie suddenly slapped Remus, her eyes alight with fire as she stood up and glared down at him. She looked to Tonks to see the older woman had leaned back in her seat and was allowing the next series of events to unravel in front of her.

"How many times do Nym and I need to tell you that you're not a fucking monster, Remus?!" she hissed, "and how  _dare_ you call my Godson, your  _son,_ a monster. There's not a monstrous bone in that boys body and I will  _not_ let you take home that stupid guilt I can see in your eyes.

"So, you're a werewolf," she continued, her voice softening as her eyes did too, "so, Little Blue might become one too; or he might just pick up a hankering for raw meat. So what? You think Nym and I love you any less? You think anyone will love Teddy any less? You're one of the smartest people I know, Remy; but sometimes you can be so fucking  _stupid_."

Remus didn't say anything; he just looked up at Cassie like he'd never seen her before, holding his reddened cheek as he did so.

"Well," David cut in, "you're very much welcome to bring the pup but I have to ask you to refrain from calling us  _monsters._ We're not monsters. Our wolves are not something to be feared."

"How can you say that?" Remus asked, his shoulders sagging as he looked at David with a look of total despair.

"Do you think Hermione is a monster?" David asked instead, looking at Remus as if he were studying him under a microscope.

Remus had a look on his face that expressed just how stupid he thought the question was. "Of course not," he replied vehemently.

Hermione smiled softly at him, happy that being a werewolf hadn't changed the way the older man saw her. "It's the same thing, Remus," she said, "the wolf inside of me is just like the wolf inside of you; the only difference is, I've bonded with my wolf where you deny and poison yours."

"The wolfsbane gives me control," Remus argued.

"The wolfsbane is killing you," Hermione replied fiercely.

"What?" Cassie and Tonks asked simultaneously; looking to Remus with twin looks of horror written on their paling faces.

"Wolfsbane slowly poisons the wolf," David began explaining, "once the wolf dies, the host dies with it. It's why Remus has yellow eyes instead of gold; his wolf is dying."

This seemed to be news for all three of the people sitting in front of them and Tonks and Cassie grabbed Remus' hands as if they could protect him from the news.

"Let us help you, Remus," Hermione pleaded, "let  _me_ help you."

The room filled with silence as everyone waited for the older mans answer. "Please, Remus," Tonks said, "I can't lose you;  _Teddy_ can't lose you"

Remus looked down at his wife, his  _mate_ , and felt the familiar urge to mark her that he had ignored all these years in fear that marking her would turn her. He saw the genuine fear in her expressive eyes; saw her reflecting on the memory of believing him dead during the war. Remus recalled when he had thought she had died in the battle too; remembered the crippling fear that had shot through him when he had seen the flash of green light heading towards his wife seconds before it connected with Cassie's chest as she jumped in front of her best friend to take the curse.

He remembered the pain he had felt as he watched Tonks leaning over Cassie's lifeless body as she screamed and begged for her best friend, her magically bonded sister, to get up. The pain of losing Cassie had been almost unbearable, but it was nothing compared to seeing the look of total loss in Tonks' eyes; a look he never wanted in her eyes again, whether he was there to witness it or not.

"Okay," he whispered, nodding his head as he kept his eyes locked on his wife's face, "I'll try; for you and Teddy."

"You'll try for  _you_ ," Tonks retorted as he placed a soft kiss at the corner of his lips.

Hermione smiled when Remus turned to her. "Will you teach me, Mia?" he asked softly, his eyes flashing a pale yellow as his wolf also begged for the help it so desperately needed.

She looked at David who raised his hands and shook his head, "not my beta, pup."

Her heart lurched at the idea of being an alpha; the idea appealing to her wolf but utterly terrifying to the rest of her. But, Remus needed a pack; he needed an anchor to help him nurse his wolf back to health and gain control over his transformations. She had been in his position; denying her wolf and in desperate need of guidance. Hermione had had David there to help her, to teach her everything she had needed to know; now, Remus was in need of the same guidance and he was looking to  _her_ to get it.

"I'll do my best," she promised.

"I'd expect nothing less," Remus smiled, this one more playful than the last and Hermione found herself grinning as the mood lifted.

"Now," Cassie began, the previously heavy topic making her uncomfortable, "tell my more about this bonfire."

* * *

The sun had set, and the moon was high in the sky as Hermione led her small group through the forest and towards the clearing the pack used for their transformations. Teddy was beside her, the ten-year-old holding her hand as he walked comfortably through the woods. Her meeting with the young boy had gone better than she had expected, and she smiled as she thought about it.

_Hermione was nervously pacing in front of her fireplace as she waited for the others to come through. Lavender was sitting on the couch, reading one of Hermione's muggle books and occasionally looking at the pacing witch every now and again._

" _Relax, 'Mione," she said after a moment, "everything's going to be fine."_

_She was about to reply when the Floo flared up and Remus stepped through followed by Tonks and a short, scrawny boy with bright blue hair._

" _Watcha, 'Mione!" Tonks grinned as Teddy looked up at her with wide eyes that looked exactly like his fathers. "Say hello, Teddy," Tonks encouraged when her son continued to look at Hermione._

" _Hello," he said, smiling shyly at the older woman._

_Hermione smiled softly, "hello, Teddy."_

_Both of them stood there for the longest time, simply studying each other as everyone else watched in anticipation. Suddenly, Teddy grinned widely, his hair darkening to brown as it curled wildly. Freckles appeared on his cheeks and his hazel eyes darkened to amber. Hermione's wolf became intrigued by the boy who suddenly looked like he could be Hermione's son. She ignored her wolf in favour of watching as Teddy suddenly flung himself at her and wrapped his arms around her stomach._

" _I like you," he breathed into her shirt and Hermione smiled as a tear fell from her eye and she wrapped her arms around the small pup._

_**Pack,** _ _her wolf stated tenderly; protective instincts flaring within her as she held Teddy to her body. She looked at Tonks and Remus, the two parents smiling proudly as they watched the two embrace._

" _I like you too," she replied to him._

She felt Teddy squeeze her hand and smiled down at the ten-year-old who still wore her features. "Are we there yet, Aunt 'Mione?" he asked, his eyes eager as he looked around the forest.

"Almost, pup," she replied moments before they broke the tree line and entered the clearing. The rest of the pack was already present, a roaring fire already lit in the middle of the clearing. Near the tree line, the pups of the pack play fought and laughed as the adults sat closer to the fire and conversed with one another.

Conversation fell quiet as Hermione and her small group of six entered the clearing. Everyone eyed the newcomers wearily and Hermione was thankful when Holland suddenly ran forward, dragging Kyla with him as he did so. "Hey, 'Mione," he grinned, wrapping his arms around her and giving the older wolf a hug that had both of them relaxing instantly.

"Hello, pup," she sighed, pulling away and raising as hand to his cheek as she looked him over with a soft smile that didn't go unnoticed by the other packmates. "Holland, I'd like you to meet Teddy," she began, looking at the younger boy who was still by her side, "Teddy, this is Holland."

"Hi!" Teddy replied eager and Hermione smiled at the young boy only to frown when she didn't hear Holland reply.

She looked up, prepared to scold the young beta for being so rude, when she was his face had paled several shades as he looked at the younger boy. Hermione's frown deepened as she dropped Teddy's hand and moved closer to Holland. "Holland? Are you okay?" she asked softly as the boy continued to look at Teddy with wide, unblinking eyes.

_He's found his mate,_ her wolf supplied when the silence continued to drag on,  _he's scared._

_**No shit,**_ Hermione exclaimed as she watched Holland stutter out a quick hello before he practically bolted back to Logan.  _ **How the hell am I going to explain to Remus and Tonks that my pup found his mate in their pup?**_

_You know mating doesn't work that way,_ her wolf scolded her,  _just because the pup recognizes the scent of his mate, doesn't mean the bond is ready to be completed. They're both too young for that._

_**I didn't even know Holland like males**_ , Hermione replied curiously as she watched Logan and Kila trying to get Holland to tell them what was wrong.

_Does it repulse you?_ her wolf asked curiously.

Hermione shook her head, oblivious to the strange looks she was receiving as the people around her witnessed her dual coloured eyes.  _ **Of course not,**_ she answered,  _ **the wizarding world isn't as restrictive as the muggle world in terms of who we chose to seek as a partner. Even my muggle parents taught me not to judge others for their choices in life. I care for Holland; I'd never turn him away for something like this.**_

_I know,_ her wolf replied proudly,  _our pack is in good hands._

_**We don't have a pack,**_ Hermione retorted.

Her wolf growled out her aggravation,  _we do,_ witch _; you can sense it as well as I can. The pups and the omegas are our pack; they're ours to protect and we_ will  _protect them. Just as we will protect their mates and ours when we find him._

Hermione's heart leapt at the thought of her mate before she shook it off and looked down at Teddy to see him sadly watching Holland. "Did I do something wrong, Aunt 'Mione?" he asked her as he looked up at her with big innocent eyes that were quickly filling with tears.

She kneeled before him, taking his hands in her own as she met his gaze with her own. "Of course not, pup," she assured him, "Holland isn't feeling quite like himself tonight; but I'm sure if you give him a few moments, he'll be right back over here to  _apologize_."

Hermione made sure her beta could hear her, and the small growl that echoed her words, too low for human ears. She watched as Teddy smiled at her before his eyes brightened as she heard Holland, Logan, and Kyla approaching once more.

"Hey, Teddy," Holland said softly, a touch of guilt tinging his voice, "s-sorry 'bout before. Do you wanna come play with us?"

Teddy turned to look at his parents, his eyes alight with excitement. "Can I?" he practically pleaded, and Hermione watched as Remus, even with the hesitance shining clearly in his eyes, nodded his head. Tonks grinned as she watched her son run off with the three teenagers as Hermione once again got to her feet and dusted her clothes off.

"Wanna tell us what that was all about, 'Mione?" Tonks asked as she and Remus looked over to the young witch.

"I will, I promise," Hermione assured them, knowing it would be better for them to learn the truth as quickly as possible, "but  _after_ the bonfire; when we return to my cabin. Without a whole pack listening in on it."

Tonks and Remus nodded before the group made their way over to the bonfire and sat down on an empty log.

* * *

Hermione watched Remus carry a sleeping Teddy towards the fireplace after giving her a quick kiss on the cheek and a simple goodnight. Tonks was trailing behind him, her eyes fluttering closed every now and again before she'd trip over something and her eyes would shoot open again. The bonfire had definitely been an experience for the family and Hermione was happy to see Remus having fun by the end of the evening.

Teddy had made friends with the other pups and Holland had, thankfully, not decided to ignore the young boy due to his earlier discovery. Hermione had already made a mental note to talk to the teenage who she could hear pacing in her room as he muttered to himself. She was already thinking of multiple ways to inform Remus and Tonks of what had just happened and the best way to make sure her old professor didn't try to curse her young pup for something that was out of his control.

Most wizards and witches didn't quite grasp the true meaning of a mate to a werewolf. Sure, they were destined for one another in a romantic sense but that didn't mean that was how the bond started; especially with the younger wolves. For now, Holland would become close friends with Teddy and, later, when  _both_ members of the bond were old enough; the wolf would begin to seek out a more romantic connection. Of course, Teddy could reject the bond; whilst not pleasant for Holland, it wouldn't kill him if Teddy decided he only wished to remain friends. Holland could even find someone else to spend his life with; however, the relationship would never be as  _fulfilling_ as the one a wolf would have with its mate.

"Thanks for tonight, 'Mione," Cassie smiled, breaking the younger woman out of her thoughts as she turned to Cassie and her husband.  _That_ had certainly been a surprise considering Hermione had heard on multiple occasions from the man himself that  _Charlie Weasley_ would  _never_ get married or settle down. Well, he certainly was married but according to both Cassie and Charlie there was absolutely  _no_ settling down going on what-so-ever. Neither of them wanted children; well, not the  _human_ variety anyway. In fact, both of them were happy to treat the dragons on the reserve as if they were their children and even showed pictures of the large creatures like proud parents would.

It was interesting to see them together. Cassie and Charlie certainly hadn't gotten long in Hogwarts according to Tonks but that had all seemed to have changed in the summer between sixth and seventh year. Tonks wouldn't go into detail about it; but she had told Hermione that something horrible had happened to Cassie and it was Charlie who managed to get her out of the depression she had been spiraling into.

"No problem, Cas," she smiled in return as she hugged her friend; her wolf purring at her pack mates happiness.

"Take care of yourself, 'Mione," Charlie told her softly, hugging her and placing a quick kiss on the top of her head, "don't go causing too much trouble."

"I think you're confusing me with Ron and Harry," she teased playfully.

Charlie winked at her before he took Cassie by the waist and the two of them disappeared in a brilliant flash of green.

Hermione let out a heavy sigh as she turned her head towards the hall. She could still hear Holland muttering to himself and her wolf whined at her pups distress. Lavender had already gone to bed, the witch barely able to make it to her room and Hermione could hear her light snores as she slept.

Slowly, she made her way down the hall and towards her bedroom; shedding her outer-clothes as she did and leaving herself in her black boyleg panties and a black camisole. She chucked the dirty clothes in her clothes hamper before she walked into her room and leaned against the frame of her door as she watched her pup pace.

"You'll wear a hole in the floor if you keep up with that," she said after a few minutes of silence.

Holland jumped, his head snapping to look at her. "Sorry," he muttered even as he went back to pacing as he muttered to himself.

Shaking her head, Hermione made quick work of crossing the room to him and placing her hands on his shoulders to stop him in his tracks. "What's bothering you, Holland?" she asked softly, "you knew you'd find your mate one day; why are you freaking out now that you have?"

"Besides the fact my  _mate_ is a ten-year-old kid?" Holland snapped, his eyes flashing. Hermione didn't reprimand him for the tone he used on her; the witch and the wolf understanding that he needed an outlet for the frustration he was currently feeling. "I-I'm scared," he whispered, his eyes tearing up.

"Of what? Teddy not returning the bond?" she asked.

He shook his head, "that's not it. I know I can still find someone to love if he chooses to reject me."

"Then, what is it?"

He looked up from where he had been staring at his feet, his dark gaze meeting her own as his heartrate increased. "Do you hate me?!" he finally blurted, tears beginning to fall from his eyes as his knees practically gave out on him. Hermione hurried forward to catch him, both of them falling to her floor as Holland wrapped his arms around her and held her tightly. "Please, don't hate me," he cried, his tears running down his face and onto her shoulder.

Hermione and her wolf whined at her pups distress and she wrapped her own arms around him as she ran her fingers through his thick curls. "Why would you ever think I'd hate you, pup?" she questioned, her voice barely a whisper.

"B-because I l-like…" his sobbing got louder.

"Because you like males?" she finished tentatively, feeling him nod against her shoulder, "oh, honey; why would I ever hate you for that? Who you like or love doesn't change who you are, Holland. Being gay isn't something to be ashamed or scared of and I'd never hate you for being yourself. Please know that. Know I love you as you are, and I'll never expect you to be anything less than  _you_. Okay?"

Holland nodded, wiping the snot and tears from his face as Hermione helped them both to their feet and motioned for him to take a shower. She sat at the edge of her bed as she showered in the bathroom, wondering what the poor pup had faced in his short life to think she could ever hate him for something as simple as his relationship preferences. He was  _her_ pup ad she'd love him regardless of who he chose to be with. Remus on the other hand, just might try to curse the young pup when he found out that Holland had found his mate in Teddy.

Then there was Fleur. Cassie had already told Hermione that Fleur had already begun planning a wedding between Teddy and Victoire; positive that the two of them would grow up to be together. She put her head in her hands, sighing heavily as a headache began to form behind her eyes.

She wouldn't think about it. Besides, in two days she would be returning to London to face old friends, old enemies, and a psychotic werewolf who seemed to have a major hard-on for her. she shivered at the thought of what Greyback probably had planned for her as her eyes moved to the little beaded bag she had placed on her bedside table. The charms she had placed on it during the war were still there and everything she had needed for her plan just so happened to be in there as well. Now, she just needed to get around the entourage she was sure Harry was putting together for the ball.

When she heard the water cut off, Hermione shook away the depressing thoughts and crawled under the covers of her blanket. Holland came out a few minutes later, grey sweatpants hanging low on his hips as he dried his hair and threw the towel in the clothes hamper. Hermione didn't say anything further about their earlier conversation; she merely lifted the blanket and gave her pup as soft smile as he laid beside her.

"Go to sleep, pup," she whispered softly, watching his eyes flutter closed as exhaustion began to take him over.

"Night, mum," he muttered before his body fell lax as he finally gave into his exhaustion.

Hermione blinked at the title he had, most likely unknowingly, given her as her wolf practically purred its pleasure. A soft smile stretched the corner of her lips as she leaned forward and placed a gentle kiss on Holland's forehead before she moved back to her side of the bed.

_Rest, witch,_ her wolf told her gently,  _the coming days will hold many trials for us._

_**Do you know something I don't?**_ Hermione questioned curiously.

_We will find him soon,_ was her wolf's cryptic reply and Hermione huffed.  _Sleep,_ her wolf ordered lightly.

So, she did.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Soooo, what do you think? Terrible? Tolerable? Meh? Honestly, I was so worried about posting this chapter that I had a moment where I just thought about abandoning this story all together. I can't promise that there won't be long breaks between chapters because I don't want to post half-arse chapters. That might lose me a few followers but I don't want to lie to you guys so there is the truth.
> 
> Anyway, let me know what you guys thought.
> 
> P.S. The Teddy/Holland thing will not be a major feature of this story because of their ages. Also, what would everyone think of a potential Teddy/Victoire/Holland story arch? I know I'm currently writing out Cassie and Tonks' time at Hogwarts but would you guys be interested in a future fic featuring Teddy/Victoire/Holland as adults? Let me know.


	5. Chapter Five

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is shorter than my previous ones but I promise future ones will be longer. However, this chapter was more of a filler than anything else but still managed to be more than 6,000 words. We have a lot going on in this chapter and yet not as much as will be reveal in future ones either. We will be introduced to a new OC and Greyback finally makes his appearance. Because I don't want to give away this chapter I will continue my author's note at the bottom. For now, enjoy.

It had taken  _three_ calming draughts and a whole room full of broken furniture before Lavender, Holland, and David had managed to calm Hermione down. Now, she was pacing restlessly in front of the fireplace as they waited for whoever Harry would send to escort Hermione to London. Hermione had tried to get the identity of said person out of Lavender, but the blonde knew about as much as she did, and it frustrated the brunette to no end.

Lavender had already delivered the dresses to Number 12 Grimmauld Place so that they could prepare for tonight upon their arrival and the idea of returning to that house was both appealing and terrifying. So much had happened within its walls, both good and bad, and Hermione wondered how she would handle the onslaught of those memories. She prayed she wouldn't have another episode, but Lavender had made sure to pack extra calming draughts just in case.

The pack had already said their goodbyes, only David and Holland remaining. The young pup had been opposed to not going to London with Hermione, but she didn't want to risk him being around unfamiliar people whilst she was at the ball. She may have known and trusted all of these people at some point in her life, but that was ten years ago; a lot could happen in a decade.

Suddenly, with a large burst of green flames, a head of blonde hair appeared through the Floo, followed shortly by a petite body. Hermione grinned widely at the woman grumbling complaints about getting her robes dirty as she dusted herself off before she looked up at Hermione and grinned just as widely.

"Hermes!" she exclaimed, Hermione mock-glaring at the ridiculous nickname she had insisted on calling her through Hogwarts before she found herself engulfed in a bone-crushing hug. "It's been forever! Merlin, you have no idea how much I've missed my favorite nerd!" the woman kept rambling as she tightened her hold on Hermione.

"I thought I was your favorite nerd," came a deep voice as a second body came out of the fireplace, "hey, 'Mione," he grinned as he hugged her when the woman dropped her hold.

"Neville," Hermione breathed, unable to compute that the man standing in front of her was the boy she had gone to Hogwarts with. Sure, he had grown up a lot during their seventh year whilst she, Harry, and Ron were on the run; but, now? Honestly, if it weren't for the dreams of her mate and the wedding band on his finger, she may have just tried to jump his bones as Kyla would say.

Neville was tall, taller than Ron almost and just as muscular if what she felt under his robes was anything to go by. His hair was slightly messy but in a way that made it look intentional and Hermione could see the beginning of a five o'clock shadow. His teeth had been straightened and he practically exuded a confidence he didn't really have until his seventh year at Hogwarts.

"Handsome, isn't he?" came an amused voice and Hermione turned her gaze back to the first person to exit the fireplace as she smiled adoringly at Neville, "told you he'd be a catch when he grew up."

"Oh," Neville grinned playfully, "you could just tell that, could you?"

The blonde folded her arms across her chest and stuck her nose in the air, looking every bit the pureblood that she was born and raised to be. "I'm a Malfoy," she sniffed pompously, a mischievous gleam in her eyes, "we're  _always_ right."

Neville shook his head, wrapping his arm around her waist and pulling her to his side in a move that surprised Hermione. "I think you're forgetting that you're no longer a Malfoy, love," he whispered into her ear. Hermione blushed at how husky he sounded, and her blush only deepened when she could smell their combined arousal.

"Really?" she questioned, mock-surprised, "since when?"

Hermione heard David cough from behind her, not having to turn around to know he was grinning amusedly at the couple in front of them. She knew she shouldn't have been surprised the Aurora Malfoy had married Neville Longbottom; after all, the woman had stated she would when she was eleven-years-old. Not that anyone believed her then; after all, she was a Slytherin and a Malfoy to boot. Hell, Neville had been downright terrified of her in first and second year; though, something had changed during their third year that she still didn't know about.

Regardless, it was clear to anyone with eyes and half a working brain cell that there had always been something between the two of them. It was made even more clear as day during the Yule Ball in fourth year, the D.A. in fifth year, the Death Eater ambush in sixth year, all of seventh year (according to Lavender), and during the final battle when, instead of choosing to go with her family when Voldemort had given the choice; Aurora had stood tall and proud beside Neville, her hand in his to show exactly where her loyalties were.

"Sorry," Aurora blushed, earning a chuckle from Neville even as the tips of his ears turned red as well. "Aurora Longbottom," she introduced, holding her hand out to David as she revealed her neck to show that she wasn't a threat to him or his pack. "This is my husband, Neville," she continued as Neville followed her example. "Are you ready to go, Hermione?"

Hermione nodded, her heart threatening to jump out of her chest and her palms sweating profusely. She turned to make her goodbyes only to be almost knocked over by Holland as he crashed into her. His arms wrapped around her tightly and Hermione held him back with equal strength as she heard a small 'aww' behind her. She ignored it. As Holland hugged her, she could smell the salty tang of his tears before they hit her shoulder and she had to blink rapidly to keep her own from falling.

Ten years this place had been her home. Ten years these people had been her family. It wasn't like she was never going to see them again, but that didn't make saying goodbye any easier. She sighed heavily, burying her head into Holland's neck as she inhaled his scent. Her wolf whined, wanting to take care of their pup but knowing there was nothing they could do. Holland couldn't come with them; they had to protect him and keeping him here was the only guarantee they had that he would be safe.

She pulled back reluctantly. Her eyes were red, but it was nothing compared to his own and she tried to give him a confident smile as she wiped his tears away. "Don't worry, pup," she told him softly, "I'll be back soon."

_We don't know that._

"You can't promise that," he sniffled.

"I can," she retorted.

_Liar._

"I'll always come back to you, Holland."

_We'll try but we may not always succeed._

_**He doesn't need to know that,**_  she growled mentally, her wolf's hackles raising even as she looked proud at Hermione's outburst. Holland gave her a nod, his own smile making an appearance on his youthful face as he took a step back and allowed David to sweep Hermione up in a bone-crushing hug.

"Take care, pup," he breathed into her hair, "find Caleb and get back here safe, okay?"

"I'll do my best," she promised, "take care of Holland for me."

"You don't even have to ask," he assured her as he placed her on the ground, and she nodded at both of them before she faced Neville and Aurora.

Aurora opened her arms, smiling comfortingly at Hermione who allowed the blonde to pull her close. "Don't worry, Hermes," she assured the witch as they made their way towards the fireplace, "Harry's made sure Greyback won't get anywhere near you tonight. There's nothing to worry that pretty little head over."

 _ **Oh, Aurora, if only you knew,**_ Hermione thought sadly before she followed her two friends into the green flames.

* * *

 

Hermione couldn't help but stare at herself in the mirror, her eyes trying to take in the woman in the mirror who couldn't possibly be her. She knew she had grown into her features over the last decade, but she still had trouble seeing herself as truly beautiful. And the woman in the mirror? Well, she was  _divine._  

Not that she wanted to think that; after all, the dress she had been forced to wear by Greyback and every part of her wanted to rip it from her body and tear it to shreds. She didn't. She wouldn't risk Caleb's safety by doing something like that just to spite a psychotic werewolf with a strange obsession with her.

Ginny had done her hair; placing it in a low, formal bun with loose strands of hair curled to frame her face. It was simple and yet so completely beautiful. Lavender, of course, had called dibs on her make-up and, after arguing for thirty straight minutes, the younger witch had finally caved and agreed to make her make-up as natural as possible.

" _I'm not trying to impress anyone, Lavender,"_ she had told the younger witch,  _"so, I don't see the point in going all out on the make-up. Honestly, the dress is showy enough."_

If Hermione had thought the dress was a little 'showy' when she had seen it in the box, it was  _nothing_ compared to how it looked when it was on her body. She hadn't really taken in just how low the neckline was until she realised she wouldn't be able to wear a bra. Not that she would have been able to with how low the back was.

She glared down at the front of her dress where the valley between her breasts was fully on display to the entire world. The plunging neckline stopped only an inch or two above her navel and, had she been as 'endowed' as Ginny or Lavender, her breasts would have been falling from the dress. As it were, they seemed to be  _mostly_ covered and the sticking spell Ginny had applied would make sure the fabric didn't move anyway.

The gown just skimmed the floor and would have dragged along it if not for the ridiculously high heels that Lavender had decided to shove her feet into. Thank Merlin for cushioning charms otherwise she would certainly be feeling the shoes before she had even made it to the ball.

It really did seem like the dress was tailored to fit her perfectly and it made Hermione shiver to know that Greyback had somehow gotten her measurements. What repulsed her even more was just how much skin was exposed. Hermione wasn't a fool, all of the places a marking bite could be placed were left bare and it shot ice straight to her heart to think about it.

"Hermione?"

Her head snapped up, the lock on the door clicking into place on its own as the mirror shattered. Her heart was pounding in her chest, had been the longer she had stood in her old room after she had asked Ginny and Lavender for a moment to gather her wits. As she looked down at the broken shards of glass lying about her feet, she realised that she didn't have any kind of control.

She breathed deeply, forcing the quickly rising panic back down as she made herself think of Caleb. Sure, the pup was a right pain in the arse, but he certainly didn't deserve whatever Greyback was doing to him.

"Hermione, you okay?" Ginny asked, her voice muffled by the door, "I heard something break; are you hurt?"

She couldn't help the small smile at the concern she heard in her friend's voice. Hermione had been downright terrified of how everyone would react when she came through the Floo with Aurora and Neville and was both surprised and relieved to learn that Harry hadn't really informed anyone about her early arrival. Ginny, however, had been all too eager to welcome her back and berate her for leaving at the same time.

 _Hermione stumbled out of the fireplace in Grimmauld Place, dusting herself off as she heard Neville calling out for anyone who was in the house. For a moment, there was only silence before there was an almost banshee like screech and suddenly, Hermione found herself coming face to face with a_ very _pregnant Ginny Potter._

_Anger, happiness, and relief seemed to war in the young witches eyes as she stared at Hermione before her hand was suddenly connecting with Hermione's cheek. The force behind the hit had her head snapping to the side and her hand coming up to gingerly touch the rapidly burning cheek that had just been struck. Ginny's anger hadn't surprised her; even with the letter she had received, Hermione knew that she had hurt the younger witch when she had left ten years ago. However, Hermione had been expecting a curse of some kind, Ginny was certainly famous for her Bat-Boogey Hex, but she hadn't been expecting a physical blow from the redhead._

_Her wolf snarled in her head, but Hermione quickly hushed it; assuring it that Ginny had every right to be angry with her. The wolf huffed and turned away from her before Hermione was distracted as toned arms wrapped around her shoulders and pulled Hermione towards a buxom chest._

_She sighed happily as Ginny's scent surrounded her, the hug made a little awkward by the sheer size of Ginny's swollen belly. However, Hermione knew not to comment on the size of the young witch. She had seen Henry make that mistake with Lisa and the results had not been pretty._

" _You're not ever allow to leave again Hermione Jean Granger; do you understand me? Never!" Ginny cried into her shoulder. "You missed my engagement, and my wedding, and you missed James being born! Don't even get me started on how much I could have used your brain during my pregnancy!" she continued as she buried her head in Hermione's neck._

" _I'm sorry, Gin," Hermione sighed, wrapping her arms around Ginny and taking care not to hurt the pregnant witch. "But, I'm here now," she said. She hoped Ginny didn't pick up on the fact that Hermione hadn't really agreed to staying in London and relaxed a little when it seemed like the witch had remained oblivious to it. However, one look at Neville and Aurora's frowning faces told her they certainly hadn't missed it and she silently pleaded with them not to say anything to the emotional witch she was still embracing._

Of course, after that, Ginny had stepped away and her anger seemed to have returned. Hermione had stood patiently as Ginny ranted and raved at her for a solid thirty minutes before she was drawn into another hug. Afterwards, Ginny had made sure that everyone was comfortable in the sitting room before asking Kreacher to make a light afternoon snack for everyone. Apparently, dinner would be served at the ball and Hermione had doubted she'd be capable of stomaching any of the food anyway. Not with her stomach in knots as it had been since she had awoken that morning.

Aurora and Neville would be staying with them until they arrived at the ball. Even though Neville wasn't an Auror like Aurora was, Harry had enlisted the help of the of D.A. for tonight as well for added protection. Hermione had been happy for the chance to catch up with the married couple but all she really wanted was her two best friends and they were currently at Hogwarts awaiting her arrival.

Thirty minutes. That's all she had left before her fate would be sealed. Plenty of time to climb out of the window and catch a cab to the airport to fly back to America. Not that she would. Caleb's life hung in the balance and, even if she wanted to be, Hermione knew she wasn't capable of being that selfish.

Though, right now she wished she was.

* * *

Another two calming draughts were needed to get Hermione in a state of mind where she wasn't about to pass out or blow up half of London. Now, her wolf was whining as they tried to sort through the various scents permeating the air and making her nose burn. She had sneezed several times when a particular witch had walked past, her perfume pungent and practically poured on.

She was thankful for the mask, although she wanted to reconnect with the people from her past, she was also terrified to do so. However, right now she needed to focus on the mission. Which would have been easier if there weren't so many conflicting smells. The masks made visual identification difficult unless you had Weasley-red hair, Malfoy blonde locks, or a lightning bolt scar on your forehead and dazzling emerald eyes. Yeah, Hermione hadn't gotten pretty adept at dodging certain people based on distinct genetic features.

Like the young male Malfoy. Draco might have changed sides by the end of the final battle but that didn't excuse the years of relentless bullying she had endured at his hands. He certainly couldn't use his upbringing as an excuse considering Aurora had had the exact same upbringing and had never shown the same prejudices the rest of her family displayed. There were just some things she couldn't forgive and forget; her treatment at the hands of the Malfoy's for something she had no control over was one of them.

Aurora had found her earlier, assuring her that she held no grudge against Hermione for her hesitance around her family.

" _If you can even call them my family anymore,"_ she had sighed sadly,  _"Father refused to even look at me after the final battle and when he learnt that I had broken my marriage contract with Theo he was furious. Blasted my face off the family tree and disowned me the moment he found out I was engaged to Neville. Old bastard that he is."_

Apparently, Narcissa and Draco still kept in contact with Aurora, but it was all done in secret and Hermione could see just how much it affected the platinum haired witch. Hermione suspected that her rollercoaster of emotions could also be contributed to the faint smell of warm milk she had smelt on the young witch earlier. She wondered if Aurora knew she was pregnant or if she had yet to notice the signs. Wolf senses did have their uses sometimes after all.

Her amber eyes search the crowds from the dark corner she had found herself in. honestly, she probably shouldn't be hiding where very few people could see her but the entourage of Auror's that had been tailing her all night on Harry's orders had become tedious. It had taken her a disappointingly short time to lose them and, even though she couldn't cast a Disillusionment Charm, she had managed to sneak around the ball room and avoid them quite easily.

Of course, she had managed to make sure  _someone_ had seen her slipping into the shadows and would notice how a masked figure would look at her every now and again. It was always a different person, sometimes a Weasley, sometimes Harry, even Neville and Aurora danced past her little corner every now and there to make sure she was okay.

Hermione wanted the entire night to be over with and as she nursed her fourth glass of Firewhiskey, she found herself contemplating sneaking out and heading to the library. However, she wasn't an idiot; she knew that the smartest course of action would be to seek out one of the Auror's on Harry's team and ask to be escorted to the library. She hated it; but it was the most logical decision.

Standing, Hermione threw back the rest of the Firewhiskey, barely flinching at the burn, before she set the glass on the table and made her way into the throng of people to find an Auror.

They weren't hard to spot, and she almost scoffed at how much they stood out. The only thing they had going for them was that no one knew which Auror was which because they were all dressed exactly the same. Same robes, same mask, same bored look and everything.

Hermione walked up to a particularly burling looking Auror who looked down at her with a thoroughly bored expression. "I want to go to the library," she stated firmly, not wanting to 'beat around the bush' and itching to get out of the crowded ballroom. She hadn't caught the scent of another werewolf except Remus and Greyback certainly had very distinguished features which she doubted could be easily hidden beneath a mask.

The Auror in front of her grunted and for a moment, Hermione wondered if he was a complete Neanderthal before she remembered that Harry had put this team together and he would have made sure the Auror's were at least competent. Regardless, the lack of an actual answer irked her, and she felt the corner of her eye twitch.

"Well," she huffed, "I obviously can't go on my own or Harry would flip out; wouldn't he? So, I need  _you_ to escort  _me_  to the bloody library."

She knew she was being rude, but she had been on edge all night and it hadn't help her already sour mood in the slightest. When she received another grunt, Hermione had to resist the urge to growl at the Auror in front of her as she promptly turned and left the Great Hall; the Neanderthal closely behind her as she made her way down the family halls towards the only place she had ever found true solace during her time in Hogwarts.

The moment the smell of ancient leather and parchment reached her nose, Hermione felt all anxiety leave her. She completely ditched the Neanderthal and made her way down the familiar stacks before she reached the one area she just  _knew_ her answers would be located.

It didn't take her long to get into the Restricted Section and Hermione searched diligently for any book that would give her information on the Veil. Of course, it wasn't as easy as she had hoped but it wasn't completely pointless either and she gave a small cheer when she actually found something that looked like it would be of use to her.

The book was small, more like a journal that anything else, and had been wedged behind two large volumes on dark magic. Hermione ran her hands over the strange symbol on the front and was about to open it when she heard a heavy thud from within the library.

Her heart leaping into her throat, Hermione slowly left the Restricted Section. As she did, she resisted her natural urge to call out and ask if anyone was there. She knew there was, and Hermione just hoped it was the Auror she had come to the library with. Perhaps, he had dropped one of the books though he had seemed rather lost when she had left him standing at the doors.

The Auror was still where she left him; he just wasn't  _how_ she left him. Hermione quickly clasped her hand over her mouth to keep herself from screaming at the sight of the large, unknown man with his throat ripped out.

Every fiber of her being told her to run as fast as she could for the door, but her quick eyes immediately drew towards the dark shadow that a hulking body created not far from her only escape.

"I can hear you, little bunny."

His voice sent fear straight to her heart and Hermione felt her entire body shake as his deranged chuckle filled the air.

"And I can  _smell_ you," he continued, loudly sniffing the air to make his point as Hermione began to back down the isle she was in. "You smell  _delicious,_ " he growled, "just like you did the first time I caught scent of you."

Her eyes darted around, looking for any form of escape that didn't include jumping out of a window and potentially killing herself. She had planned on handing herself over to Greyback in exchange for Caleb; but now that she was actually faced with her impending capture, Hermione only felt the desire to get as far away from the deranged werewolf as possible.

"I wanted to take you right there when I smelt you in that forest," he taunted, " _fuck_ you into submission before I marked you as my  _bitch_."

Her wolf snarled at his audacity to even  _think_ he had a right to claim her in any way; even before she herself had become a werewolf. And, calling her a bitch only further pissed off the wolf and the witch.

"I can smell your anger, bunny," he almost sang, his voice coming from every direction but his faint scent only coming from one. "I'm gonna enjoy  _breaking_ every  _inch_ of you."

His rancid breath hit the back of her neck and Hermione didn't hesitate to bring up the heavy tome she had picked up and hit him across the face with it. Greyback stumbled from the impact and Hermione took satisfaction in the fact she had distinctly heard his nose break before she tossed the book on the ground and made a run for it.

She reached the door and screamed out her frustrations when it wouldn't budge. It had been spelled shut and without her magic being in control, Hermione had no way of getting herself out through the large doors unless someone came looking for her.

Her wolf howled out a warning just as her ears picked up the disturbance in the air and Hermione ducked the clawed hand Greyback had sent in her direction. She kicked him in the knee as hard as she could, not even bothering to take her satisfaction when she heard it  _pop_  and the male werewolf howl in pain before she was running back into the depths of the library.

An angry growl filled every available space in the cavernous room and Hermione felt herself shiver once more at the promise of pain the sound had reverberated. However, it was nothing to the fear that shot through her as the spicy scent of arousal reached her nose. Greyback was getting turned on by all of this and Hermione wanted to be physically sick just knowing what he had planned for her.

She had no doubt in her mind that, if the older wolf got ahold of her, that she would spend the rest of her, no doubt short, life in utter pain, misery, and humiliation. And there was no way she was going to let that happen.

Her eyes flashed gold, her teeth elongating before she raised her wrist to her mouth and bit into it. She screamed into her wrist, ignoring the metallic taste of her blood as it flooded into her mouth before she removed her wrist and wiped it against a bookshelf. Running further into the library, Hermione repeated the action on a few more shelves before she finally allowed the wound to close over.

She inhaled deeply, only able to smell her own blood and knowing it would confuse Greyback. He wouldn't be able to track her through scent anymore but she also wouldn't be able to track his scent either. As she moved, Hermione forced her heart to slow down using the meditation techniques David had taught her to help her deal with both her wolf and her PTSD. She felt her heart slow and knew it was quiet enough to go unheard over his own heartbeat.

Hermione found a dark corner in the back of the library, an area she would often go to when she wanted to escape everyone for a few hours. No one went back that far because no one was really interested in the history books that were back there.

Sitting down, Hermione closed her eyes and got into a meditative pose. She was confident that she was well hidden within the shadows and that Greyback would not be able to track her from smell or sound. It gave her the opportunity to try something that she desperately hoped would work and not destroy the entire castle.

Hermione dug deep, looking for the source of her magic. When she found it, she tugged on it gently, not wanting to have a dramatic outburst but hoping to trigger a small bit of accidental magic. At least, enough to get a message to anyone that could help her.

_Expecto Patronum._

Never in her entire life had Hermione tried to attempt both a non-verbal and wandless spell. However, that didn't stop her from getting frustrated when nothing happened. She pulled on her magical core a bit more persistently before she tried again.

_Expecto Patronum._

Nothing.

More magic.

_Expecto Patronum._

A blue wisp and an influx of hope.

Another pull at her magic.

_Expecto Patronum._

_Expecto Patronum._

_EXPECTO PATRONUM!_

The wisp turned into her patronus but not the one she had had during Hogwarts. The otter was gone, replaced by a near replica of her wolf. Hermione didn't have time to think about what this meant for her before she thought up the quickest message she could that would get the message across the fastest. The message was cut off by a clawed hand reaching to the shadows and grabbing her arms roughly.

Hermione watched the wolf disappear through the wall and preyed it would get to Harry before this all went to shit.

Her back was slammed against the nearest wall and she felt all breath escape her as another clawed hand wrapped itself around her throat. Hermione clawed at the hand, trying to get in air as blackspots began to flitter across her vision. When she felt a nose near her neck, Hermione stiffened. Her senses were assaulted by the smell of corrupted Earth and  _death_.

"It's a shame," Greyback breathed into her neck, "I do so love taking virgins. Their  _screams_ are music to my ears." He licked her neck, drawing a disgusted shiver from the petite witch. "Oh well," he growled, "I have other ways of drawing that pretty little scream from your lips, bunny."

When Hermione felt his clothed erection thrust against her stomach, she lost control of her magic. She didn't care if she blew up the school; there was no way she was going to allow this monster the satisfaction of thinking he possessed her body. Of thinking he could  _break_ her. She was Hermione Granger; she had survived Bellatrix Lestrange and she wouldn't be broken by some deranged dog in need of a neutering.

Unbeknownst to Hermione; her gold eyes turned a brilliant glowing white as her body began to exude an auror of power. The power fluctuated, causing goosebumps to rise on Greyback's flesh as his wolf snarled at the influx of power coming from the diminutive witch. With hands completely encased in glowing white light, Hermione grabbed the wrist of the hand still wrapped around her neck. Her eyes were distant yet filled with raw power and the young witch remained oblivious to the smell of burning flesh as it began to permeate the air.

"What the hell are you?" Greyback growled through tightly gritted teeth.

"We are  _more_ than you could ever handle," snarled Hermione, two layers to her voice as both the witch and the wolf spoke. "We are powerful and we. Are. Not.  _Yours_."

Hermione shoved her opposite hand towards Greyback's chest. The strength of the wolf and the power of the witch worked simultaneously and Greyback was propelled through the air and straight through two bookshelves before he hit the opposing wall. He sat up with a snarl, glaring fiercely at the glowing woman who hadn't moved from where he had grabbed her in the dark corner that was now awash with light.

He remembered one of his betas telling him that the young witch hadn't used her magic in almost a decade which certainly explained the power he felt radiating from her in waves. His beta had also told him about the connection the American pack had with their wolves so the fact her wolf could so easily get control or even work with the witch shouldn't have surprised him either. Still, she shouldn't be showing physical signs of that power and it only made him growl louder.

"You think you can beat me?" he snarled as he got back to his feet, "I am the oldest werewolf alive you little  _bitch_. If I want you, I  _will_  have you; your parlor tricks will not change  _anything_."

Hermione smiled, her canines sharp and her smile cold as she felt her magic pulsing within her. She could feel magic surrounding the library; a deeper, much older magic than she or Greyback were capable of and she wondered what the school was up to. However, before she had time to question it further, Greyback was charging for her.

She didn't try to run away; instead, Hermione met him half-way. Their bodies collided with a loud  _thump_  as Hermione used her claws and teeth to tear into the deranged wolf. She wouldn't back down; adrenaline coursing through her veins as she bit into Greyback's arm only to be tossed from his body a moment later.

The young witch groaned as her back collided with the wall and she fell to the ground in a heap. Already, her body was healing the injuries and her magic was helping to speed it along as she glared up at the wolf towering over her.

" _Lycaon,_ " Hermione smirked, watching as Greyback froze in his steps, his face going pale at the simple word she had spoken.

"What did you just say?" he growled.

Hermione stood to her feet; her white eyes now surrounded by a gold ring as her wolf momentarily took over. "You are  _not_  the oldest werewolf alive, Greyback," she answered, "Lycaon still lives and so do his descendants." She walked towards him; her steps more confident than they had been earlier that night. "You crave  _power_  over our kind and yet you know only  _him_ , and  _his_  descendants have any  _real_   _power_ ," she purred, using magic to force him back against the wall and keep him pinned there.

"Lycaon and his descendants are dead," Greyback snarled, fighting against his invisible bonds as he glared down at the smirking werewolf, "they were hunted to extinction."

" _Rumors_ ," she replied simply, "nothing more than rumors passed around to make the Wizarding World believe they had a  _modicum_  of control over our kind. But Lycaon still lives and his descendants know that he will come back to crown his heir. You will never have the power you seek. There is more to ruling our kind than fear and anger."

"What would you know of ruling? You're nothing more than a pathetic beta," he growled.

Hermione was about to reply when there was a sudden influx of very dark magic and she found herself thrown against the wall; again. She felt like she was being smothered by the darkness that was surrounding her; stealing the air from her lungs and threatening to send her into unconsciousness.

"What are you doing here?" Greyback growled, "I had it handled. You're supposed to be making sure no one gets in here before we have left."

"Yes, well," came a deep, velvety voice from the shadows, "had I know you were going to play with her this long I would have enforced stronger wards and went back to the others. As it is, you have less than five minutes before Potter and his little sidekick get here."

Hermione blinked the black spots out of her eyes and looked up as a figure emerged from the shadows. He was handsome and tall, with dark hair and even darker eyes. He couldn't have been much older than her and he was definitely the source for the increased dark magic. He was powerful; she didn't even have to  _feel_  his magic to know that because she could  _see_  it clear as day surrounding him.

He bowed to Greyback before he turned his gaze on her and smirked. Hermione wanted to shrink back as he approached her; stopping when their chests touched as he leaned over and inhaled deeply. "You really do smell  _divine_ ," he purred into his ear; quite enough so only she could hear, "don't worry, Hermione; I wouldn't let such a  _gift_  go to waste on something a  _pathetic_  as Greyback. But I can't have you giving me away so, for now; I think it's time to  _sleep_."

His fingers pressed against the side of her forehead and she suddenly felt extremely tired. Hermione fought against the encroaching darkness as she looked up at the man standing directly in front of her.

That was when she noticed it.

Just above his eyebrow was a crescent shaped scar. A scar she was very familiar with.

Because she had been there when he got it.

But that was impossible. It couldn't possibly be him.

The darkness continued to pull her down to its depths and Hermione managed to utter a single word before her world went black.

"Caleb?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Anyone see that coming? Because I didn't until I wrote this chapter and it surprised the hell outta me. But, I liked it. Did you? We will be touching base on Lycaon in the next few chapters and he will play a large role in future chapters. Also, Caleb will play some major roles in future chapters as well so stay tuned for that.
> 
> What do you think of Hermione int his chapter? Bit of a badass yeah? I was afraid I might have made her seem too powerful but, again, without giving away future chapters, this will all be explained later.
> 
> So, what did you think? Loved it, hated it? Why? Drop me a review and I promise to have the next chapter up as soon as it is ready.


	6. Chapter Six

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There will be mild torture in this chapter and also violence.

_Hermione was running through a decrepit mansion. From what she could tell, this mansion had been absolutely beautiful during its prime, but years of neglect had rendered it unrecognizable. Her paws barely made a sound as she turned down corridor after corridor as if she were being led by some invisible force._

_In front of her were two ornate doors and they burst open as she approached. Hermione skidded to a stop in the middle of a ballroom. In front of her was a throne; the only item of furniture in the entire room that still seemed to be intact. On that throne, was a crown and Hermione slowly made her way towards the two items, her ears flattened to her head as her eyes darted around the room._

_There was a strange auror of power emanating from the crown, one that wasn't bad but wasn't good either. Something told Hermione that the wearer decided just how good or evil the power became and shivered at the possibility of it falling into the hands of the next Voldemort._

" _ **Lycaon and his descendants live,"**_ _came a soft, feminine voice from behind her and Hermione turned to see a beautiful woman with long, wavy gold hair and brilliant green eyes. She looked at Hermione with fondness, like they had known each other their entire lives._ _ **"And Lycaon will return to crown his heir,"**_ _she continued, and Hermione recognized the words, similar to the ones her wolf had spoken to Greyback in the library at Hogwarts._

_The woman walked towards Hermione, kneeling before her as she did so. Her white dress seemed to repel the dust and grime in the abandoned room as she raised a pale hand and ran it through Hermione's fur._ _**"But the heir will have its challenges,"** _ _she warned,_ _**"and the first will come in the form of a wizard born of darkness. A wielder of dark magic who will battle the heir for the chance of having the throne and the power that comes with the title of king.** _

" _ **The heir will need a champion,"**_ _the woman continued, running her fingers through Hermione's soft fur,_ _ **"a protector and a guide to help them until they are ready to ascend.**_ **You** _ **are that champion, little wolf."**_

_The ballroom slowly began to fade around them and was instead replaced with a large forest Hermione immediately recognized._

" _ **This will be the location of your greatest battle yet,"**_ _the woman told her as she stood and moved into the large clearing surrounded by gnarled trees and creeping bushes._ _ **"And here,"**_ _the woman continued sadly, standing on a patch of dead grass,_ _ **"this is where you will fall, Hermione Granger; Guardian of…"**_

Hermione awoke with a gasp as a shock ran throughout her body. She flinched away from the source of the shock only to look up and see…

"Caleb?" she croaked, blinking blearily as her brain tried to commute what she was actually seeing. It wasn't possible. The man before her couldn't possibly be the boy she had seen a couple weeks ago.

He grinned wickedly at her as his calloused finger trailed down her cheek. Hermione turned away, not wanting him to touch her now that she had learnt he was a traitor to their pack. "Honestly," he began, that melodic voice almost hypnotizing, "I really shouldn't be surprised you figured it out so quickly, Hermione. After all, what would you expect from the Brightest Witch of Your Age?"

"Why?" she breathed, looking around the room she had awoken in only to realize it wasn't a room at all; it was a dungeon. As if her eyes were directly connected to her nose, the various scents suddenly assaulted her at her realization. Hermione physically recoiled as the smell of blood, urine, and death reached her nose. It was everywhere; taking up every available space and it burned her sensitive nose something fierce.

"Why what, Hermione? You're gonna have to be a little more specific," Caleb teased, standing to his full height and towering over her prone form. Hermione and her wolf agreed they didn't like this power play and made to stand only to hiss as she realized her hands were bound above her head with thick, onyx cuffs. "Ah yes," Caleb grinned, trailing his fingers along the cuffs, "brilliant, aren't they? My father's creation. He used them quite regularly on me to make sure I couldn't reach my full magical potential.

"I figured, if they worked on someone as powerful as me they'd definitely make sure you wouldn't be using any of that stored magical energy on anyone either," he explained coyly, "after all, I like my body intact and I have no doubt you'd try and curse off a few body parts given half the chance."

"I don't need magic to remove body parts," Hermione growled, her eyes flashing gold as her wrists pulled against her confines, "I'll rip you to pieces with my teeth and claws the moment I get the chance you traitorous bastard."

"Kinky," Caleb said with a flirty wink, "though I'm sure we could find something more productive for you to do with your hands and mouth, princess."

"Do that and I'm sure Greyback will rip you apart himself," she stated, "after all, hasn't he  _claimed_ me?"

Caleb's face darkened as he moved to crouch in front of Hermione. He grabbed her cheeks and squeezed them tightly as he forced her to meet his eyes. "You think  _Greyback_ would stand a chance against  _me_?" he growled, his eyes going black with a gold ring around the outside as dark magic filled the cell. Hermione felt her body trying to fight against the dark aura that was trying to suffocate her. "I'm more powerful than the Dark Lord and Potter combined," he snarled, his elongated teeth very close to her face, "that deranged bastard wouldn't stand a  _chance_ against me, princess, and you'd do well to remember that."

Then, his fingers were gone and he was across her cell before she had time to blink. His eyes and teeth returned to normal as he leaned casually against the door to her cell. Hermione was going to ask him what the hell was going on before the smell of corrupted Earth and death reached her nose.

"Ah, the little bunny is awake now," purred Greyback as he entered the dungeon and approached her cell, "did you enjoy your sleep, pet?"

Hermione clenched her jaw, refusing to speak to him as she glared at Caleb who was smirking lazily. The look reminded her so much of Malfoy in school that she wanted to punch the werewolf in the nose just like she had done to that pompous prat all those years ago. Greyback, noticing her attention wasn't solely on him, follow her gaze and gave Caleb a raised eyebrow.

"And what did you say to get the little bunny so fired up?" Greyback asked lowly.

"I simply told her the truth about her fate here," Caleb replied submissively, "and how flattered she should be that our alpha has deemed her worthy enough of being claimed."

His answer seemed to pacify the older werewolf who grunted before motioning for Caleb to leave him alone with Hermione. She watched Caleb send her a look that told her not to speak a word of what was said, or he would make her suffer for it. The look of barely concealed lust in his gaze made her recoil and she saw his smirk widen before he left the dungeons.

"Comfortable?" Greyback asked once they were alone, smirking at her as he took up the spot Caleb had just been in.

Hermione grunted, glaring at him as she pulled against her restraints with a snarl.

"Feisty, aren't you?" he continued, undeterred by the icy glare coming from the enraged woman, "I like that."

"Let me out of these," Hermione said, pulling against the shackles, "and I'll show you just how feisty I can be."

Greyback chuckled and slowly began to approach the bound woman who forced herself not to shrink back. He kneeled before her just like Caleb had done earlier and, like Caleb, Greyback grabbed her cheeks roughly. Hermione bit her tongue to keep from whimpering in pain when his clawed fingers punctured the skin of her cheek as the humor left his eyes.

"You'll learn your place," he growled at her, "even if I have to beat it into you. You are  _mine_ ; and you will submit to  _me_. Do you understand, little bunny?"

Hermione knew it was stupid the moment she did it but that hadn't stopped her from spitting at the larger werewolf. He seemed surprised at first as he raised his free hand to wipe the spit from his face before his eyes shone with anger and Hermione was thrown to the side as the back of his hand connected with the side of her face.

"Do that again and I'll rip out your fucking tongue," Greyback snarled fiercely before he stood up and made his way over to the door to her cell. "Your insubordination needs to be punished, bunny. Let's see how agreeable a few days without food or water make you."

With that said, Greyback slammed the door to her cell closed and left Hermione alone in the dungeons.

* * *

Hermione had tried everything possible to access whatever magic had possessed her in the library but, just as Caleb had said, the onyx cuffs kept her magic contained and even caused her physical pain if she tried to access it for too long. The pain had gotten to the point where Hermione had passed out to escape it only to dream of the strange blonde woman again. Every time, she would wake up before she learnt who she was supposed to care for.

The riddle of the dream had kept her from going completely stir crazy in the cell when the second day drew into the third and the third into the fourth. She was starving and so dehydrated that she couldn't even form a small amount of saliva to provide her with some form of water. However, Hermione didn't complain whenever Greyback or Caleb would come down the stairs and taunt her.

Greyback had promised to end her suffering if she would submit to him and if Hermione had had any saliva left, she would have spat on him again. As it was, she simply turned away from both men whenever they came to her cell; ignoring them until they would leave.

Her stomach hurt, her throat felt like sandpaper, her hair was mattered, and her wrists had been rubbed raw against the cuffs. All in all, Hermione certainly looked the part of a prisoner but she refused to allow them to break her. She had survived Bellatrix Lestrange for Merlin's sake; she wouldn't allow herself to be broken by men who believed they could own anything they wanted. She had been raised better than that and she had had friend who had taught her that she was worth more than that. Harry had made sure to assure her of that although the war, especially when Ron had left them during their time on the run.

When the door to the dungeons opened, Hermione didn't even move. She was too tired to do anything more than blink blearily. Then, a heavenly scent reached her nose and, had she had any saliva left, she would have salivated as the smell of pumpkin soup reached her nose. Thinking it all a way for Greyback to torture her, Hermione simply continued to stare at the opposite wall of her cell. Her eyes narrowed in on some strange markings on the wall but she was just too hungry and thirsty to make sense of the markings.

The sound of her cell door opening reached her ears and Hermione felt her entire body try to stiffen in preparation for whatever might come next. However, to her great surprise, the scent that filled the air was not the corrupted smell of Greyback or the spicy scent of Caleb; instead, she smelt warm milk and fear.

Hermione slowly turned her head to look at the newcomer, her whole body protesting the motion. Everything hurt; in the days that she had been in that little cell, she hadn't been allowed to get up and move around. Her back was raw from rubbing up against the cold stone behind her and Hermione had lost all feeling in her arms from their positioning. The cold seeped into every pore on her body and, she was sure, she had a fever with how much she was shaking and sweating. Still, she refused to let Greyback have the satisfaction of seeing her any weaker than she had to look in front of him.

She was a petite little thing with ebony hair and azure eyes. Everything about the woman in front of her was small except for the roundness of her very pregnant belly. She was skinny, far too skinny for any person to be and especially a pregnant woman. Her cheeks were sunken in and her eyes held heavy bags under them as they darted around the cell; like she was afraid someone would jump out of the shadows.

"I-I brought you s-some so-up," she stuttered heavily, her cheeks pinking as she shuffled forward on bare feet that were scraped up and bruised, "a-and some wa-water."

Hermione couldn't say anything as she greedily took the bottle from the woman's hands and took large sips only to have to fight off nausea a moment later. "Y-you shouldn't drink s-so fast," the woman scolded softly as she shuffled closer.

Hermione nodded, taking more tentative sips before she put the nearly empty bottle aside and looked at the woman suspiciously. "I thought Greyback wanted me to break before he fed me," she managed to get out before she began coughing. The woman waited patiently for her to stop and have another mouthful of water before Hermione spoke again, "so, why is he letting me have food?"

The woman looked down at her feet and her cheeks turned a darker shade of pink. "He i-isn't," she said. Hermione must have looked confused before she continued quickly, "G-G-Greyback isn't here r-right now. He and t-the wizard left t-this m-morning."

"Wizard?" Hermione questioned, "you're a muggle?"

The woman nodded, "please, e-eat," she urged, kneeling in front of Hermione and holding a spoonful of soup towards her.

Hermione did so without further prompting. She could already smell that the soup wasn't laced with anything and, quite frankly, she might have eaten it even if it was poisoned; she was just  _that_ hungry. The woman kneeled before her silently as she continued to feed Hermione the soup and, much too soon for her liking, Hermione swallowed the last of the hot meal before the woman stood, picked up the bottle, and began to make her way out of the cell.

"Wait," Hermione said just as the woman closed the door to her cell, "who are you?"

"L-L-Lucy," the woman stuttered before she disappeared from the dungeons, once again leaving Hermione all alone.

* * *

Hermione groaned as her eyes squinted open and adjusted to the familiar darkness that seemed to constantly surround her. It had been two days since Lucy had come in and fed her the soup and she was getting more and more hungry. Greyback and Caleb had returned the very same day Lucy had visited; both of them sporting equally suspicious smirks and it made Hermione's hackles rise.

Her eyes drifted to the runes on the opposite wall and she forced her brain to focus on them like she had been doing the past couple of days. She had managed to translate half but unless she could translate the rest it was all a jumbled mess. However, she was determined to translate them the moment she had recognized that whatever it was, it was about the Veil.

Also, from what she had read; the runes seemed to be a ritual and when Hermione had translated the words  _crossing the Veil_ , her heart had skipped a beat. However, it wasn't until she saw the small symbol etched onto the bottom of the wall that she really got excited. It was the same symbol on the little journal she had found in the Restricted Section which meant whoever had written the journal had written what was on the wall as well.

So far, Hermione knew that what ever ritual the runes spoke of had to be performed on a full moon which should be within the next week and a bit. Unfortunately, with the way things were going, Hermione doubted she'd be free by then and it disheartened her because this was the biggest lead she had found on potentially saving the souls trapped within it.

The runes also spoke of a mirror dimension, which Hermione had assumed to be true when she had first started researching the Veil with Lavender. With that said, the runes also mentioned something about the Veil having an effect on ones 'wilder self' and Hermione could only assume whoever had written it had been talking about Werewolves.

Her head snapped away from the wall when she heard the door to the dungeons open and the smell of corrupted Earth reached her nose.

Greyback stood before her cell door a few seconds later; a look on his face that expressed frustration and anger as he looked down at her. "I see your punishment has done little to make you grateful, little bunny," he said when she turned her gaze away from him to stare blankly at the wall.

Hermione didn't answer him; not wanting to say anything in the presence of the monster standing in front of her. She fought every instinct in her body that screamed for her to look at him when she heard her cell door being opened and his scent slowly got closer to her.

"Did I ever mention how  _delectable_ you look in that dress?" he purred as he crouched in front of her, his putrid breath fanning over the side of her face and making her scrunch her nose up in distaste. "Good enough to  _eat_ ," he continued before his nose was suddenly in the crook of her neck and he was taking a long inhale. "You smell amazing," he groaned, the smell of his lust filling the air before his tongue trailed along the length of her neck and Hermione couldn't hold back the scared whimper that fell from her lips as she tightly closed her eyes. "I bet you  _taste_ even better," he continued, his body leaning away from her.

For a moment, Hermione believed that he was done taunting her. She should have known better.

Her eyes shot open and her mouth opened as a pained shriek fell from her lips.

Greyback chuckled, digging the cursed dagger deeper into her arm; happy with the reaction he was drawing from the younger woman.

Hermione thrashed violently, her screams echoing off of the walls of the dungeon as he continued to cut into her flesh.

It felt like  _hours_  and there had been so many times when Hermione had wanted to pass out to be rid of the pain. However, her fear of what Greyback might do to her unconscious body was the only thing to starve off the darkness that was always trying to encroach on her.

When he was done, Hermione was sweating heavily and had fallen silent; her eyes distant as she stared at the opposite wall. She had retreated into herself, keeping herself conscious but trying to drown herself in something that could help her forget what was happening to her body. It didn't work but that didn't stop her from trying.

A rough, wet object made its way up her blood covered arm and Hermione couldn't even flinch away in disgust when she realised Greyback was  _tasting_ her. He let loose a guttural groan that had Hermione's entire body going cold before he stood up and left without another word.

She didn't know how long she simply sat there before she finally worked up the strength to look at her arm.

She wished she hadn't.

Her eyes flooded with tears that rapidly spilled over her cheeks as she stared at the torn flesh.

**Mudblood.**

Greyback had cut open her old scars; tracing over the letters that Bellatrix had carved into her arm all those years ago.

A hoarse sob tore its way out of her throat at the sight before her and Hermione, for the first time since she had become a prisoner, felt hopelessness fill her entire being.

She felt like she was back in Malfoy Manor, screaming and begging as Bellatrix carved into her arm. Like it always did when she thought about it, Hermione's arm started to burn and her body started to have small convulsions. She was very familiar with this part of her PTSD but it had been so long since she had been trapped in the memory.

Hermione's eyes had dulled after the experience; staring at nothing as she receded into her own mind. There would be no relief for her there; not when the demons of her past were so eager to catch her at her lowest and drag her further down.

The young witch didn't even react when her cell door was opened a few hours later. She barely registered the horrified gasp that reached her ears before the sound of something hitting the floor and feet fleeing the dungeons. Hermione just wanted to be left alone; she just wanted to melt into the ground and sleep for an eternity.

The room was once again filled with sound as the light footsteps rushed back into the dungeon and a small part of Hermione's mind realised they had kept the cell door open when they had left. Not that she could have escaped; she was both physically and emotionally exhausted and still bound to the wall by the magic suppressing cuffs.

The smell of warm milk and lavender reached her nose and her wolf relaxed her pacing as she realised the person in her cell was no threat to her.

"I-I'm gonna help y-you," came a soft voice, Hermione vaguely remembered belonged to Lucy. When soft hands moved to her arm, Hermione startled violently. Her eyes shifted color and her canines sharpened as she snapped at Lucy without thinking. The petite woman scurried back, fear permeating the air as she stared at Hermione with wide eyes.

Seeing the fear in her eyes made Hermione shift back and bury her head in her shoulder as she began to cry. She just wanted this to all be over. This wasn't how things were supposed to go. She was supposed to find Caleb and use her emergency portkey to get them both to safety. Caleb wasn't supposed to be an older wizard who had obviously been using an aging potion to make himself a teenager once more. He was apart of their pack.  _No,_ her wolf growled fiercely at the thought,  _he was never our pack mate. You felt it; the way he would look at us. The darkness that always seemed to surround him._

She had; but Hermione hadn't thought much of it at the time. She had just believed he was a misunderstood teenager with severe anger management issues. How had she gotten it so wrong? How had she not smelled the potion in his system or his own magical signature?

The scent of warm milk and lavender moved closer until Hermione felt a tentative hand on her cheek. "I-it's going to be ok-ay," Lucy soothed her, "I'm going to h-help you."

Lucy made sure all of her movements were slow, trailing her hand from Hermione's cheek to her shoulder and slowly to her injured arm. Hermione kept her head buried in her shoulder, biting into the skin harshly to keep from screaming when Lucy suddenly poured some kind of cleaning solution onto her cuts. Her muffled cries made Lucy wince and the sight of blood running down Hermione's shoulders must have frightened the young woman even more as Hermione could hear her apologizing profusely.

She was gentle as she patched Hermione up the best she could manage. Hermione had managed to rasp out why the wound wouldn't stop bleeding and Lucy had cried as she wrapped the gauze around Hermione's arm as tightly as she could without completely hurting Hermione.

When she was done, Lucy began to clean up in silence, her eyes downcast as she cleaned up as much as she could manage.

"He'll know," Hermione whispered, the sound barely audible in the small cell but Lucy was close enough to hear her.

"I know," she replied resignedly.

"Why?"

Lucy looked up at her with large grey eyes, "b-because you don't d-deserve this."

"You don't know me," Hermione sighed, "for all you know, I could deserve this."

She shook her head, her eyes becoming stern, "he t-told me about y-you. H-he wouldn't ha-ave lied to me."

"Who?"

Lucy's smile was sad as she looked down at her swollen belly, "A-Andrew."

Hermione's eyes widened at the name and didn't need to know the last name to know who Lucy was talking about. Her maker; the young wolf that had bitten her all those years ago. He had left the pack five years ago when he had felt the pull to find his mate and no one had heard from him since. She shouldn't believe that he would join Greyback willingly; not with how against violence Andrew had been.

"You're his mate," she said, already knowing the answer so not bothering to ask it as a question.

"Was," Lucy said sadly, her eyes filling with tears.

"How?" Hermione asked, her throat tightening.

"G-Greyback," she replied, "w-we tried to e-escape when I f-found out I was pregnant. Greyback f-found us and killed A-Andrew when he tried to f-fight back. H-he dragged me back h-here and said I-I'd be killed once t-the baby is born."

Hermione felt sick, a mixture of her earlier torture and the news just presented to her from the now sobbing woman. She felt the numbness that had been trying to drown her recede and be replaced by blinding rage and a strong urge to protect the mate and unborn child of her maker.

She felt the familiar surge of magic and hissed as it was repressed once more by the cuffs. "I'm going to help you," Hermione vowed, "I swear on my magic I will get you out of here."

Lucy met her gaze and smiled softly, "h-he said you were a g-good person."

"We need to leave tonight," Hermione said, already trying to form a plan in her head but knowing it would be useless whilst she was as weak as she currently felt. "I need my beaded bag," she continued; but I don't know where they would have put it."

She felt tired, the blood loss threatening to send her into unconsciousness but Hermione fought it with everything she had. It wasn't just her life at risk anymore; it was Lucy's. Hermione didn't even want to think about what Greyback had planned for the unborn baby she currently carried inside of her and Hermione needed to work as fast as she could so unconsciousness would have to wait.

"I k-know where it is," Lucy said, already getting up, "I'll b-be right b-back."

And then she was gone.

Hermione sat back and tugged against the onyx cuffs restraining her.  _ **How am I going to get out of these?**_ she sighed, flinching as pain tore through her arm. She pushed it down, locking it in a box and ignoring it the way she had taught herself to do with any kind of pain over the years. She could already hear David scolding her for blocking her pain receptors; telling her how they were important to let her know just how injured she was. But, she knew how injured she was; she just couldn't worry about it right now. Not when there were three lives at stake.

Her eyes drifted to the runes on the wall and, in her slightly blurred state, Hermione realised she had been reading it wrong. Had she had the strength or the will, she would have smiled as she realised just what needed to be done to free those in the Veil before her head snapped up at the sound of a terrified scream.

She didn't know how she recognized it as Lucy's but something inside of Hermione flared up at the sound of her in trouble.

" _The heir will need a champion, a protector and a guide to help them until they are ready to ascend. You are that champion, little wolf."_

Her magic flared, her wolf howled, and Hermione screamed as pain consumed her.

" _The heir must be given a chance to live,"_ the feminine voice said, echoing around the cell,  _"your first trial begins now. Protect the mother so the child may live."_

Again, her magic flared and Hermione's pained scream mingled with Lucy's frightened one as a white glow surrounded her body before it rapidly moved towards the onyx cuffs. The cuffs shattered completely and Hermione felt herself fall forward, her Lycanthropy mixing with her magic to try and heal what it could. Her arms regained feeling much faster than they would have without the power boost and the boost of adrenaline helped clear her vision.

Hermione screamed again as her magic forced her change, her eyes shifting from amber to white with a glowing white ring around her eyes as her bones shifted to accommodate her rapidly shifting form. She had never changed forms other than a full moon; she didn't even think full transformations were possible and she never wanted to try it again as the pain flared to unbearable levels.

Eventually, her scream cut off into a howl as a wolf, much large than her usual form, stood in place of the witch. She easily towered over six feet and was as wide as a door. Hermione shook her large head of the pain before another scream, this one filled with pain, filled the air and a terrifying growl fell from her mouth.

A burst of magic leaving her body had Hermione whimpering at the sharp pain before the sound of the cell wall completely exploding filled her ears.

She shook her head again to dislodge the debris that had been caused before she ran from the room, her massive paws soundless against the ground as she ran up the stairs leading out of the dungeon and burst through the doors and into the hall.

Shocked screams followed her revelation and Hermione snarled at the surrounding pack that was present in the hall. Some cowered, some growled back; the ones that challenged her easily backed down when she drew closer and her magic expanded to cover the room. Suddenly, everyone was in a mad dash for the doors leading out of the building she had been held in and Hermione felt the urge to chase her prey grow inside of her.

The witch managed to control the wolf enough to reason with it. They had to get Lucy. They needed to protect Lucy and the heir. She put her nose in the air and inhaled deeply, trying to sort through the many scents before she landed on the one she was looking for and she felt another growl leave her lips. The warm milk and lavender scent that Lucy carried was mingled with blood and it made Hermione's rage grow.

Whoever had her was making their way onto the grounds, dragging her behind them as she screamed for help.

Hermione didn't bother to find the door, she merely jumped through the largest available window before she bolted after the scent she knew she needed to follow. Power surged inside of her but Hermione pushed it down as she ran after the only person in this cursed place to show her kindness. Her makers mate. The mother who carried the heir of Lycaon. Did Lucy even know how important her child was? Did she have any idea that she was currently carrying a descendant of the oldest werewolf family in all of existence?

She didn't know and right now she didn't care as she leapt over a large brick fence and skidded to a halt in front of three people.

The two werewolves holding Lucy were at least double the size of Greyback and looked about as stupid as they come. However, they also looked like they were proficient in combat; or, at least, proficient in  _killing_.

Any other day they might have stood a chance at beating her; but, at the site of the rapidly blackening eye on Lucy and the claw marks on her cheeks, Hermione knew that she was far angrier than they were.

The wolf wanted to kill the idiots that would dare lay a hand on Lucy and the witch decided, in that moment, to simply turn away and allow the wolf the retribution she sought.

Where her size had seemed to have scared the others shitless, the two wolves in front of her grinned up at her like she was some prized fight they had been hoping for. She watched as they threw Lucy aside; heard the sound of a bone breaking before Lucy screamed out in pain. Hermione snarled, her body lower as her sharpened teeth were revealed to her prey who had removed their shirts and were partially transformed now.

They charged her the same time and Hermione ran forward, only needing to take a handful of steps before her large head was flinging one of them into the wall she had just jumped as the other tried to get his large arms around her neck. Hermione's teeth clamped down on his torso, clenching tighter until the metallic taste of blood filled her mouth and she heard bones crunching beneath her teeth. The man screamed in pain, his arms releasing her before she shook him fiercely in her large mouth and tossed him aside.

She didn't have a moment to check on Lucy as the second wolf tackled her from the side, sending them both to the ground. Hermione snarled loudly when his teeth sunk into her neck as his sharpened claws dug into the side of her body. She howled when another set of teeth dug into the other side of her neck as claws scraped down the length of her face. Hermione felt her power pulse, sending the two men flying off into two directions as she got back to her paws.

Hermione allowed herself a second to look at Lucy and saw her face pinched with pain as she held her stomach. A scent reached her nose, one she had only smelt once and Hermione's eyes widened slightly when she realised Lucy's water had broken.

Her head snapped away from the petite woman when she heard footsteps running towards them and saw two more large men running from the forest, their bodies partially transformed as well.

They weren't just running for her though; they were running for Lucy and Hermione could hear more on their way. Knowing Lucy was her main priority, more so now than ever before, Hermione ran for the man that was rapidly approaching the woman and didn't hesitate before she locked her jaws around his neck and clenched her teeth tightly.

She tossed the body aside and got to her belly in front of the heavily breathing woman who was looking at her like she was the most terrifying thing in the entire world. Not that Hermione could blame her; she was sure she looked absolutely frightening at that moment but she also knew that they needed to go.

She looked into Lucy's eyes and felt her eyes flicker once. Hermione watched as Lucy's eyes widened before she shakily got to her feet.

Hermione sued her head to help the struggling woman onto her back and once Lucy informed her that she was on; Hermione took off into the forest as fast as she could.

She ignored the tight grip Lucy had on the fur near her neck; ignored the way her nails dug into one of her fresh bites. The bites wouldn't heal; even when not a full moon, werewolf bites had enough venom in them to make it near impossible for their bites to heal. Her face would scar to but Hermione would eventually get over it.

It was hard to maneuver in the forest at the size she was but Hermione's sheer size meant she could easily crash through the thick brush that surrounded her. Lucy's head was buried in her neck, shielding her face from stray branches as she whimpered every now and again. Hermione had never been in so much pain; not even when Bellatrix was torturing her, but she continued to push down the magic trying to surge up within her. She refused to hurt Lucy and she couldn't lose control until Lucy was safe.

When she could no longer hear the footsteps of their pursuers, Hermione final stopped and allowed Lucy to get down from her back. She bit her tongue to keep from howling as she changed back.

Ignoring Lucy's frightened and awed gaze, Hermione ran to the petite woman and grabbed her beaded bag. The emergency portkey was easy enough to find and Hermione pulled out the little button and held onto it tightly as she gasped. The pain was like nothing she had ever felt before and it was getting worse as her power got stronger.

"Here," Hermione breathed, placing the button in Lucy's hand and making sure she had a firm grasp on it. She placed her beaded bag around Lucy's shoulders and made sure it wouldn't be lost during the portkey.

"Y-you're h-hurt," Lucy stuttered and Hermione darted to where her frightened eyes were looking.

She could already feel the pull of the three deep scratches across her face and her eyes fell on the largest of the two bites which was flooding with blood. Hermione grimaced at the pain that came from the bite now that she was aware of it before she turned her gaze in the direction they had just come from. The footsteps were getting closer again and they would have much time.

"This," she said quickly, pointing at the button held tightly in Lucy's hand, "is a portkey. It'll take you somewhere safe. You'll be taken to the home of a very good friend of mine; his name is Harry. Harry Potter."

"I-I'm not leaving y-you," Lucy tried to argue before she doubled over as a contraction overtook her.

"You are," Hermione said firmly, gritting her teeth to keep from crying out as her body began to feel like it was burning up from the inside, "tell Harry; Hermione sent you. Tell him December 25th, 1997; he'll know what you mean and he'll know I sent you."

"I d-don't…"

"Polyjuice," Hermione said, interrupting whatever protest Lucy was going to give her and watching as she vanished from sight.

Hermione stood, her eyes still glowing white and the light beginning to surround her body once more. She looked around the clearing and smiled ruefully as she realised that she recognized it. It was the clearing she had seen in her dream. Looking down she saw that she was standing in the exact spot the woman had been pointing to in her dream. The burning grew stronger and Hermione felt her knees buckle from beneath her.

She grunted as her knees hit the ground, the rocks and twigs scratching at her naked skin. The footsteps got louder until two dozen or more werewolves entered the clearing. They were all partially transformed; men and women who smelt of corrupted earth and death. The women sneered and the men leered as they walked closer to her glowing figure.

"The little bitch got away," one of the women sneered to a man that was standing next to her, "Greyback will not be pleased."

"He'd be even less pleased if he lost his little toy," another man grunted from somewhere behind Hermione, "think he'd know if I played with her for a bit before we brought her back?"

"Don't be a fool, Luke," an older woman hissed, "our alpha has already laid claim to the little tramp; only he will have the right to fuck her."

Their voices were slowly drowned out by the white noise filling Hermione's ears as she struggled to stand once more. If she was going down; she would go down with her head held high and not being towered over by everyone present.

"She did a full transformation and it's not even a full moon," another woman commented, "how is that even possible?"

"How was she so big?" another demanded.

"Who cares; just grab the bitch and get back to the compound. We still need to get everyone else who decided they wanted to abandon our alpha when he so graciously spared their pathetic lives."

Hermione heard one of the men approaching her; felt his hand roughly grab her arm before he pulled back with a pain scream.

"She fucking burnt me!" he screamed as he doubled over.

She lifted her head, facing the majority of the werewolves that had come after her.

"Enough," the older woman spoke clearly, "you will return to your cell or I'll be forced to hurt you long before your  _master_ as a chance to."

Hermione cocked her head as a sharp-toothed smile crossed her face before the glowing around her body stopped. She heard them all rush her at once; thinking she had given up but Hermione knew better. She had felt when the magic had receded only to know exactly what came next.

" _You have done well, little wolf,"_ came the woman's voice as everything seemed to slow down,  _"let go, Hermione. Let go."_

She threw her head back as a scream tore from her throat, her arms held out to the sides of her body as everything went white.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Um, okay? I thought it was okay, right? Anyway; yes, this was the magical explosion Lavender had been talking about and we will see just how far-reaching and devastating that was in the next chapter. Also, Sirius, Fred, Alice, and Frank will also be making an appearance in the next chapter. Yay! Anyone else excited or just me?
> 
> Just to clear things up, Greyback and Caleb were not present during that magical explosion and will have quite a few more chapters in this story. Caleb especially will play a big part in future chapters and we will also have an appearance from Dolohov.
> 
> Caleb had been taking an aging potion to make him younger and a scent dampening potion to hide the electric scent that wolves smell on wizards.
> 
> We will also see What happened when Harry and Ron reached the library and when Lucy appeared before Harry as well. So, next chapter is going to be pretty lengthy and have multiple POV's just to warn you all.
> 
> Please leave me kudos and drop me a comment; you guys have no idea how inspiring your comments are and they were the only reason I continued to post when I was going to give up on this story.
> 
> Until next time everyone :)


	7. Chapter Seven

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, so here it is. This chapter is a little over the place because it switches POV a lot. Sorry if that becomes confusing but it was the only way for me to show everything that was going on. Anyway, hope you guys like it.

The ball was in full swing when Harry realised Hermione was no longer in the Great Hall. He frowned at the empty table she had been sitting at before looking around the room. James also wasn't where he was supposed to be and Harry relaxed slightly; knowing he wouldn't have left his post unless it was to escort Hermione somewhere. He shook his head, already knowing where she would have gone and choosing to give her privacy.

In truth, Harry didn't know how to act around Hermione anymore; it was partially the reason he hadn't visited her since they had found her after ten years. He was still hurt that she had left but it was nothing compared to the hurt of seeing her interact with her alpha. Harry could remember when Hermione would seek him out for comfort just like he would seek her out for the same thing. Seeing Hermione getting that comfort from someone else had made jealousy rear its ugly head and Harry had scolded himself internally for it. She had been gone ten years and he couldn't have expected her to be wallowing until he found her; that wouldn't have been fair on Hermione.

It didn't make the jealousy or the hurt lessen.

Hermione was also different; there was a darkness that surrounded her that hadn't been there the last time he had seen her. It wasn't the same darkness as you could feel coming off of someone who was evil. In fact, Harry was very familiar with the darkness surrounding his friend; it was the same darkness he saw in Ginny, Ron, Lavender, and anyone else who had fought in the war. It was the same darkness he could see in his own eyes whenever he looked at a mirror.

He had had Ginny to help him through his darkness and he had help her as well. Hermione had had David and the pack she appeared so close within the photo he had observed in her home. But, David couldn't possibly have helped her with everything; he was a muggle after all and he couldn't possibly know what it felt like to be held under the Cruciatus curse and tortured for hours. Hermione should have broken; she didn't. He had always known she was strong but hearing her screams from the dungeons; knowing she didn't say anything to Bellatrix, it proved just how strong she was.

Harry had talked to Aurora about talking to Hermione. He knew that if anyone could understand what Hermione had gone through in that room it would be the ex-heiress. Aurora had been tortured through her seventh year of Hogwarts when they were looking for horcrux's. The Carrow siblings had taken great pleasure in placing Aurora under the Cruciatus curse and, according to Neville, Aurora had made sure she was the subject of the curse whenever they sought to use it on the other students.

He looked towards the familiar head of long blonde hair and smiled as he saw her dancing with Neville. The look of love in their eyes was clear for anyone to see and had been there for years; longer for Aurora than it was for Neville but just as strong for both of them.

Aurora had proved herself time and time again during their time at school. Sure, they had all be distrustful of her for being Slytherin but she never let that get in the way of doing the right thing. She had stood up to Snape on behalf of Neville, hexed Blaise Zabini when he had coped a feel of Ginny without the red-heads permission, allowed Umbridge to use her blood-quill on her when she had looked like she was going to use it on Luna. Hell, Aurora had stood against her parents and her brother to show her loyalty to the Light side.

Neville was different when he was around her too; more relaxed and confident. Harry had been surprised to see Neville walking up to Aurora during the Yule Ball in Fourth Year to ask her to dance. Though, he had been more surprised to see just how fast Aurora ditched her very attractive date to have a single dance with the awkward teenager. There was no denying that puberty had decided to take its time with Neville and Aurora had inherited the Malfoy and Black beauty. They shouldn't have been compatible, both in looks and personality, and yet; they made it work so well that their relationship reminded him of all the stories he had been told of his parents.

Aurora was his father; chasing after Neville since First Year and Neville had been his mother; ignoring all her advances until something changed and suddenly they were hopelessly in love. Even Ginny commented on just how perfect the couple was and Harry couldn't agree more as he watched Neville lean down to place a soft kiss on Aurora's lips before the woman gave him a tender smile.

She was still a Slytherin though; a force to be reckoned with according to the twins when they had seen him watching her during the final battle as she picked off Death Eater after Death Eater without a single one knowing where she was. The way she had fought was proof of her pureblood upbringing. The grace she used as she turned away from stray spells and fired off her own was nothing short of beautiful to witness; almost like a dance. It was no wonder that Aurora had gone on to become an Auror; training under Tonks' guidance to become one of the youngest high ranking Auror's in history.

Neville had gone on to become the Herbology teacher at Hogwarts; teaching the next generation everything they needed to know before he would Floo home in the evenings. He was a magnificent teacher and a devoted husband; and, as of a few hours ago, a proud future father.

Harry watched them for a few more moments before he moved his eyes away from the scene and back towards the table Hermione had been at earlier. He frowned again, unable to ignore the feeling in his gut that something was wrong.

That was when it happened.

A silvery blur shot through the crowd of people before coming to a stop in front of him. He recognized the wolf even though he had only seen it once and the sinking feeling grew more.

"Greyback."

One word, that's all it said in Hermione's husky tone before vanishing out of sight. Harry didn't need to call for back-up. Ron, Aurora, Neville, Tonks, and Cassie were standing by him in a heartbeat before they rushed from the Great Hall.

He knew she'd be in the library; it was Hermione after all. When they got there, there were four wizards standing guard at the door; none of them were Auror's.

They all had to dodge as the group began an onslaught of hexes and curses before Harry finally found an opening and sent a stunner at one of them. He slammed into the nearby wall before he shook his head and stood up with a growl; his eyes flashing gold.

"Stunners aren't going to work here, Harry," he heard Cassie call from behind the pillar she and Tonks had taken up refuge behind, "werewolves are a little more tolerable towards our spells. You're gonna have to get brutal with them if you're gonna stand a chance of stopping them."

They were pinned down by the group of four and Harry was wondering what he was going to do to get to Hermione when a voice suddenly piped up.

"Expulso!"

The largest of the group was sent flying into the wall with such a force that the brick broke and the werewolf slumped unconsciously to the ground. The fighting seemed to pause as everyone turned to see who the caster was and Harry felt pride swell in his heart at the sight of his very angry wife.

"Well," she huffed at them, "are you just gonna stand there or are we going to help 'Mione?"

That got everyone moving and as Ginny bound the large werewolf she had knocked out, the other took on the other three. Tonks and Cassie were back to back as they dueled two females and Neville and Ron were keeping the third guy distracted. Harry saw Ginny slink behind a pillar and motioned for him to get in the library and help Hermione. He didn't waste a moment as he erected a shield charm and ran through the fray.

When he reached the doors to the library, he grunted as he tried to get them to open only for them to stay firmly shut. He tried every unlocking spell he knew but nothing was working. Suddenly, the air filled with a dark aura; this one telling Harry that whoever was inside with Hermione was very powerful and very bad. He kept trying to get the door open when he was suddenly unceremoniously shoved aside by a huffing Aurora.

"Honestly," she said as she pulled him back with her and pointed her wand at the door, "did you watch Hermione in school at all? Bombarda!"

The door was blown off its hinges and Harry watched as Aurora stepped into the room with a fierce look on her face. He knew Aurora and Hermione had bonded in school and that she had been thrilled to learn that they had found the curly haired witch. The look in her eyes was of a sister willing to do anything to protect her sibling.

Not that it would be necessary because, apart from a mutilated corpse, the library was empty.

"What the hell happened in here?" Cassie asked as she stepped over the door and into the library. "Looks like Mia put up one hell of a fight," she continued, nodding her head in approval at the body sized hole in several bookshelves, "bet Greyback didn't see that coming."

"I can feel two contrasting magics."

Everyone jumped at the sound of Luna's voice, turning to see her and Lavender standing beside Ginny who didn't even blink at the sudden arrival.

"One's very dark but the other is like… pure light," she continued, pausing momentarily to find the right words, "both are really powerful."

"It had to have been Hermione," Lavender spoke up, biting her lip nervously, "the light power I mean. It couldn't have been anyone else."

"Hermione's a powerful witch but she's not that powerful, Lav," Ron tried to interject only to be silenced when she looked like she was about to cry. He completely panicked when she actually began to cry, covering her face with her hands as she sobbed loudly. "Lav?" he asked cautiously, unsure how to approach the crying woman.

He saw his sister roll her eyes at him before she wrapped her arm around Lavender's waist. "What is it, Lavender?" Ginny asked softly, "why are you so upset?"

"Hermione is suffering from a buildup of magical energy," Lavender managed to get out between her sobs.

Harry watched everyone stiffen but he was confused as to why. "So? Just have her release it," he said simply, wanting to get this conversation over so they could work on finding Hermione.

"I wish it were that simple, Harry," Cassie spoke up when it looked like Lavender wouldn't be able to get the words out around her sobs. "A few months or a couple of years of repressing your magic can have some negative effects but can also be released in a controlled environment," she explained, "but, Hermione hasn't used her magic in  _ten years_ and all of that magic in a witch with the magical potential Hermione has shown throughout her time at school isn't just deadly, it has the potential to be catastrophic.

" _When_ Hermione's repressed magic finally released, the backlash will level a large village; if you're lucky," she finished severely, resting a hand on Harry's shoulder as his eyes became haunted.

Lavender had finally calmed down enough and looked up at all of them with terrified eyes. "I'm afraid we might be too late by the time we find, Hermione," she told them all gravely, "if her magical auror is still present in this room and as powerful as Luna says; then letting that power out would have already started the process for it to release completely."

"How long does she have?" Harry asked, his hands clenched into fists at his side.

"Honestly?" Lavender questioned sadly, "she could have anywhere from a few hours to a few days and then…"

"Then, what?" Harry asked; his green eyes fixed on Lavender who refused to meet his gaze. "Tell me, Lavender," he demanded, "then, what?"

Lavender's eyes were filled with fresh tears as she finally looked up at him.

"Then, the magical backlash will destroy everything in its path; including Hermione."

* * *

Hermione blinked awake; the surrounding area blurred before her vision finally sharped in on the night sky above her. She sat up slowly; her body protesting the motion but not in a painful way. It felt like she hadn't moved in days and every muscle was stiff. The area around her, which she recognized as the forest she had escaped into with Lucy, was strangely silent.

Which terrified her; because Hermione couldn't  _hear_ her wolf in her head.

She looked around wildly, jumping to her feet and preparing for the werewolves to attack her only for her eyebrows to furrow when she realised she was the only person in the forest.

A low whine from behind her had Hermione turning around and almost falling over when her amber eyes met the golden gaze of a very familiar russet wolf.

"How?" she breathed as she slowly approached the frightened wolf who seemed to calm the closer she walked to her. "It's okay," she tried to soothe as she kneeled before her wolf and held her hand out, palm facing her wolf, before she waited for her wolf to come to her.

Hermione was in awe at what she was seeing; sure, she had seen her wolf in her head and during her dreams but it was a completely different situation to come face to face with your actual wolf.

Her wolf sniffed at her hesitantly before she pressed her head into Hermione's palm. Hermione shivered as she felt their bond become reaffirmed; her sight and sound sharping and scents assaulting her senses. Her wolf remained in front of her, gazing into her eyes for a long moment before she closed her eyes.

_Well, when you do something you certainly don't do it by halves, do you?_

Hermione jumped as the voice echoed in her head; though, in reality, she should have been used to it after all of the years.

"I don't remember what happened," Hermione frowned, looking around the empty clearing and searching the tree line for the pack that had been surrounding her.

_You lost control,_ her wolf told her simply,  _your magic was release and the ensuing wave devastate the surrounding area._

Her eyebrows furrowed as she got a flash of a blinding white light before she shook her head. "Are you sure?" she asked, "everything looks fine."

_Mhm,_ her wolf hummed idly,  _this dimension was unaffected by the magical explosion._

"Dimension?"

_What happens to the souls of those not dead but not alive either?_

It took Hermione far longer than she wanted to admit to figure out what her wolf was trying to tell her and when she came to the realization, her eyes widened. "We're inside the Veil?" she questioned, awed as she looked around her.

_And we're running out of time to do what we wanted to do here._

"This wasn't the plan," Hermione said as panic finally set in, "this wasn't what was supposed to happen."

_Obviously,_ her wolf replied in a near perfect imitation of her old dour potions professor,  _it's not like anyone plans to get stuck in limbo after blowing up everything around them. Honestly, you should just be grateful that you're still alive. Well, relatively speaking._

Hermione sent her wolf a raised eyebrow. "Have you always been this sarcastic?" she deadpanned.

_I try. Now, shall we go?_

"Go where?" Hermione asked and she could have sworn she saw her wolf roll her eyes.

_The Ministry of Magic, of course. We must find our mate before we run out of time._

And then she walked off, leaving Hermione to follow after her.

* * *

"You were supposed to make sure Greyback didn't get her!"

Harry barely flinched as a vase shattered against the wall behind him and he simply looked sadly at the young teenager, not too much older than Teddy, pacing back and forth. He could see the conflicting looks on Holland's face after Harry had broken the news to him. It was the first time he had been in Hermione's home since the first day they had found her. Now? Most of the furniture was overturned and Harry was watching patiently as the young werewolf continued to lose control of his emotions.

He knew Hermione inspired strong emotions in everyone she saw but something seemed different with Holland. David had been angry, leaving the cottage to let off steam before he had returned and had taken to brooding in the corner of the room. Holland, however, seemed to be going through a mirade of emotions including, anger, fear, and hopelessness. Harry knew that look; he had no doubt he had worn a similar look after having the nightmare of Sirius during Fifth Year. It was the look of a child fearing for a parent or parental figure and Harry hadn't realised just how strongly the young teen felt for Hermione.

"Hermione went to the library with one of the assigned auror's," Lavender tried to soothe the young boy, having volunteered to go with Harry to inform them given that she had spent the most time with them. "Greyback must have followed her scent there, killed the auror, and fought Hermione before he somehow overpowered her and took her," she continued, "believe me, Holland; we had no intention of letting Greyback get Hermione but we couldn't plan for everything. We're only human."

"How can you be so calm?" Holland hissed at Lavender, glaring fiercely at her, "your alpha is missing and in the hands of that psycho and yet  _I'm_ the only one that seems to care!"

Okay, so Harry hadn't known anything about Hermione being an alpha and certainly hadn't know that Lavender seemed to be a member of a pack. He looked to David who seemed to be watching Lavender and Holland curiously.

Lavender stood up from where she had been sitting, her own eyes narrowed at the young pup. "Don't you dare say I don't care about what's happened to Hermione," she growled, "I care; I'm terrified of what could be happening to her right now but I have faith in Harry and my friends. I know they'll find Hermione and I know they'll bring her back."

"How?!" Holland yelled, "how are they going to bring her back if she's already begun the process of releasing her magic?! She's dying! You said so yourself, the magical explosion will destroy everything including Hermione. You said there's never been any reports of someone surviving this."

Suddenly, his knees buckled and Harry rushed forward to catch him before he could hit the ground. Holland's forehead fell against Harry's chest and Harry wasn't surprised when the boy began to cry. He had wanted to cry as well and probably would when he finally allowed everything to fully hit him. For now, he allowed Holland to cry into his shirt, trying to offer as much support as he could to the boy who was a stranger to him but obviously very important to his best friend.

"I know everything seems hopeless right now," he whispered to Holland, aware everyone could hear him, "but you  _know_ Hermione, Holland. You know that if anyone can survive this, it'll be her. She's too stubborn to let something like this keep her away from the people she cares about."

This seemed to soothe Holland a little and Harry waited for the boy to pull himself together before he continued to talk, "come to London with us," he told the teenager whose eyes widened.

"W-what?" he stuttered, looking at Harry like he might have completely lost his mind. And, maybe he had. But he was sure that being closer to Hermione, even if it was just by being on the same continent as her, would be good for the young wolf.

"Come to London with us," he repeated, "you can stay with Ginny and I at Grimmauld Place as long as you don't mind a screaming three-year-old."

Harry watched as Holland's eyes darted over his shoulder, no doubt looking at David who was sitting behind Harry. His eyes quickly focused back in on Harry before he nodded quickly. Harry managed to give him a kind smile as they both stood to their feet. "I'll give you some time to pack up a few things and then we can go," he told Holland who nodded again before he disappeared further into the house.

"If anything happens to him, she'll never forgive you."

He sighed at the sound of David's voice; still unable to get over his jealousy at the man who had been Hermione's comfort for ten years. A part of Harry would likely always dislike David for the role he had played in Hermione's life when Harry couldn't be there; but he knew Hermione would be very unhappy with him if she ever discovered that he had disrespected her alpha.

"I know," he replied, turning to face the older man who was staring at him intently.

"I don't think you do," David continued after a moment, "if something happened to him, it would just be happening to her friend or pack mate. The bond between Holland and Hermione isn't rare amongst werewolves but it is deceptively strong."

"What are you talking about?"

David looked over at Lavender who looked just as confused as Harry and it made him sigh heavily. "Hermione's wolf has recognized Holland as a pup in her pack but the wolf has also recognized that Holland is a pup without a mother. Her wolf has chosen to step in as a sort of mother-figure for Holland and their bond has strengthened because of it. If anything happens to him, Hermione will not just be an alpha looking for revenge for a beta; she'll be a mother out for blood for her pup. Never underestimate what a mother will do for their children."

"Believe me," Harry replied seriously, "I very familiar with just how far a mother will go for her child."

The older man smiled ruefully, "yes, I suppose you would. Regardless, a wolf mother protecting her pup is vastly different to a human mother defending her child. Hermione will kill anyone who stands between her and keeping Holland safe."

"Hermione's not a killer," Harry argued.

"I'm not saying she is," David retorted, "but I also know you haven't seen Hermione in ten years. A lot can change in a decade."

"Oh, and I suppose  _you_ think you know her better than me," he said through clenched teeth, his hands curling into fists as his jealousy spiked.

David stood from his chair and moved over to Harry, standing almost chest to chest with him. "I  _know_ I know her better than you. Everything changed for Hermione after the war;  _she_  changed. Getting the bite might have saved her life because when I first actually met Hermione she was wasting away. I thought the bite would kill her she was that far gone.

"Hermione weighed less than a small child. She drank herself into a stupor every night and she had to take pills to get to sleep.  _I_ was the one who carried her through the town and to the hospital when she overdosed because she couldn't handle the memories anymore.  _I_ was the one that came by every day to make sure she was eating and taking care of herself. It took me  _months_ to get her to trust me and  _years_ to develop that trust enough for her to tell me exactly what happened to her.

"She came to my house one night after getting blind drunk for the first time in months and broke down about how  _weak_ she felt. How  _helpless_ she thought she was. I knew she was strong but Hermione needed to discover it for herself. So, I trained her. I taught her to defend herself. I helped her build enough muscle so the outside strength matched the strength I knew she had on the inside.  _I_ did that; and I know that Hermione wanted to tackle the last thing she believed made her weak.

"Her compassion," he growled. Harry had gone pale during his speech, sitting down heavily as David continued to speak. He had known Hermione had struggled after the war but hearing about it was a completely different ball game. "Hermione believed her desire to see the good in everyone, to want to find a peaceful solution to everything, was her greatest weakness. So, she closed off that emotion. When Hermione needs to, she'll lock all her emotions away; pain, fear, compassion. She'll lock it all away and only allow her anger to control her actions.

"So, no; I don't think Hermione is a killer. But, with that said, I  _know_  she is perfectly capable of doing it if she or her wolf felt it was necessary. So, stop lying to yourself, Harry. Hermione may have been your best friend during Hogwarts; but, do you think you could be friends with the woman she grew to become?"

And that was the million-galleon answer, wasn't it?

* * *

Hermione and her wolf, who she had taken to calling Mia, had travelled far to get to Muggle London and the witch had frustrated Mia when she had decided that their first trip would be to Saint Mungos. Of course, eventually the wolf had given in, knowing that arguing would only lengthen the time it took them to reach their mate. Unlike her wolf, Hermione didn't feel the urge to find her mate and Mia had explained that it was because they weren't currently connected as wholly as they were back in their own dimension.

Getting into Diagon Alley was simple enough and after Hermione had found something to cover her naked body with, she led Mia through the deserted streets until they came upon the wizarding hospital. She just stood there for a moment, looking up at the large building and wondering if this was even going to work. Honestly, Hermione didn't know what scared her the most; not being able to return or actually returning. And if this worked, what would people think of her? How would they react to her messing with something as delicate as life and death?

_Are we going in or are you just going to stand out front and stare at it all day like a weirdo?_

Hermione looked down at Mia and glared but the wolf ignored her as she entered the building and Hermione was forced to follow behind her. She had quickly come to learn that Mia was very sarcastic and very opinionated; and she had no problem with expressing those opinions either.

The halls weren't completely abandoned in the Veil's version of Saint Mungos and it made Hermione shiver to see so many lost souls. Perhaps, they could help all of them? Maybe they could get everyone threw the Veil and back to their bodies.

_This place is creepy._

"It's a hospital," Hermione replied.

_Exactly. Name one hospital that isn't creepy. Honestly, for a place you go to heal they have a way of making you want to stay as far away as physically possible._

Hermione couldn't argue that point so she continued down the hall in silence, trying to ignore the stares she could feel from the other spirits. She felt like she had memorized the path she was taking even though she had only taken it twice; once in real life and once in a dream.

* * *

They'd been searching for Hermione for days without any luck when the alarms in Grimmauld Place suddenly began to go off. Harry, Holland, Neville, Remus, Tonks, and Aurora had been in his study; going over maps of potential locations Greyback could have been keeping Hermione. Ron, Cassie, and Lavender were out looking for anyone that could be of use to them in their search but Harry wasn't holding his breath on the hope of them finding anyone.

He was alerted to the intruder first by the alarm and then by the sound of Ginny screaming in the library. Harry was the first to leave the room, not even bother to use the door as he apparated to the downstairs library. He stood protectively in front of Ginny, glass crunching beneath his boots from a broken cup as he stared fiercely at the unknown intruder.

Everyone else soon followed, piling into the library with their wands ready only to freeze at the sight before them.

Lucy was terrified and in pain and seeing all these people looking so threatening was enough to make her want to throw up. A combination of that fear and whatever the hell that Portkey had done to her meant Lucy  _did_ through up right at the moment when another contraction decided now was the perfect time to make her double over from pain. Everything hurt; her face, her feet, her wrist, and every other part of her body that decided they didn't want to be left out. She truly must have done something awful in a past life to deserve everything that had happened to her.

"I-I-I'm looking for H-Harry," she managed to get out as she cowered away from the fierce looking man with unruly dark hair and bright green eyes.

"What do you want with Harry?" Aurora demanded only to be silenced when Ginny glared at her for scaring the poor woman.

"H-Hermione sent me, w-with this," she replied, holding out the now useless Portkey for them to see.

Ginny went to rush forward, her maternal instincts already telling her to look after the scared little creature in front of her. James was napping upstairs and she was happy she had talked Harry into placing silencing charms up around his room so the alarm hadn't woken him up; that boy certainly took after the Weasley's when it came to his temper. Harry stopped her journey forward and she looked up at her husband with a frown only to see his eyes trained on the woman.

"Prove that Hermione sent you," he demanded.

The woman seemed stumped for a moments before her eyes widened and Ginny saw her looking a little hopeful. "She to-old me to t-tell you; Decem-ember 25th, 1997."

He and Ginny shared a look before Harry released his wife and allowed her to rush towards the trembling woman. Ginny reached her just as her knees buckled and she fell forward. Harry wasn't far behind and helped Ginny support the woman as they both directed her to a chair.

"When did your contractions begin?" Ginny asked kindly. Harry could hear Aurora activate her Patronus before sending it off with a message for both Lavender and another for Madam Pomfrey.

"J-just before I a-arrived," she managed to get out before she doubled over with a pained cry.

Ginny tutted as she mothered the young woman. "What's your name?" she asked softly before she raised her hand, wand now in place, and non-verbally summoned a few things.

"Lucy," she stuttered.

Harry watched as Ginny got Lucy as comfortable as possible as they waited for Lavender and Pomona to arrive. When they did, all three women ushered Lucy up the stairs and into one of the guest rooms, Tonks following just behind them. The remaining men looked towards Aurora who eyed them all critically. "What?" she demanded when they continued to look at her.

"Aren't you going to follow them?" Holland asked curiously, earning a glare from the blonde.

"Why, because I'm a woman?" she asked sarcastically.

"Uh, yeah?" Holland answered.

Aurora huffed, crossing her arms over her chest and ignoring the amused chuckle she could hear from her husband as she looked at Holland. "Being a woman doesn't immediately mean I want to witness a woman giving birth right in front of me," she huffed.

"But, aren't you going to be giving birth in a few months?"

"Yes," she answered through gritted teeth, her eyes softening a little when she felt a strong arm wrap around her waist and a large hand settle over her still flat stomach, "and I'd rather not have nightmares of giving birth before I actually have to go through it myself, thank you very much."

As if to prove her point, a shrill scream pierced the air.

* * *

_Do you honestly expect to find them exactly where their physical bodies are in our world?_

Hermione looked down as Mia spoke, watching as her wolf sniffed the air curiously before she sneezed. She smiled, finding the display kind of cute from the physical embodiment of her inner wolf. "I know the souls would be able to explore this dimension but they'd eventually be called back to the location of their physical body to keep the connection strong otherwise they would be forced to cross over," she explained as they began to near the room she had only been to once.

_And how do you expect to talk to two people who have no idea who you are or why you even want to help them?_

"I'm going to explain to them who I am and the relationship I have with their son," Hermione answered simply, "but I think some part of them is already familiar with who I am."

_Because they addressed you in a dream._

"Yes."

Mia fell silent as they entered the room that had belonged to the Longbottom's for almost three decades. As Hermione had hoped, Alice and Frank were sitting beside their physical bodies, their eyes closed as they held onto their physical bodies. Hermione paused at the door, looking closely at the two figures who didn't seem to have aged a day past the age they were when they were tortured; and yet, their physical bodies certainly showed the years that had past.

_Time works differently here,_ Mia observed as she slunk into a dark corner, well aware of how many people would perceive her. She decided her human would do all the talking whilst they were here; not that Mia could talk to them like this, the only reason she was capable of communicating with Hermione was because of their bond.

It was amazing to see how much Neville had grown up to look like his father and yet, there were so many similarities he shared with Alice as well. Physically, Neville had his father's strong jaw and tall, muscular build but possessed his mother's soft aura and kind eyes. It seemed he had gotten the best of both of his parents and it made Hermione's heart break because all three of them had had so little time to be with each other. What would have happened if Neville had grown up with both of his parents? How would it have changed Neville as a person?

She shook her head; Neville had become the man he was today because of what had happened to his parents, because he had been raised by his grandmother, because he had endured countless bullying from Slytherin, because he had discovered a strength in him that might not have been discovered if anything in his life had been changed. Although Hermione would have loved for Neville to have grown up with his family intact; she couldn't imagine growing up with  _that_ Neville compared to the Neville they all loved so much.

A hand clamping down on her shoulder broke her from her thought with a loud shriek, disturbing the Longbottom's, as Hermione turned to the person who had grabbed her. Her eyes narrowed in on the teenager who was doubled over and practically crying because he was laughing so hard. "Fred!" Hermione yelled, slapping him repeatedly, "what. The. Hell. Was. That. For?!"

It took Fred a moment to get himself under control before he stood to his full height again and Hermione was suddenly overcome with her own emotions. She rushed forward, tackling him in a hug as tear flooded her eyes and fell over her cheeks. Fred barely managed to keep them both from falling to the ground but Hermione was too busy clinging to him like an octopus to care. She knew she would run into him eventually; hell, she was determined not to leave this place until she had the redhead in tow. What she hadn't been expecting was to be assaulted with all the emotions she had forced into a box when she had believed him to be dead all these years.

She cried against his chest as his arms tightened around her, uncaring of the audience they had as she clung to him. "Come on, 'Mione," he soothed her, "you gotta calm down."

"Don't tell me what to do, Fred Weasley," she huffed, pulling away a little to smile up at him.

Fred grinned back at her, "you love it, Granger; don't lie," he replied with a wink that had her releasing a watery laugh. Fred pulled back further, keeping a grip on her shoulders as he looked her over before he whistled, "always knew you'd grow up to be a bombshell, 'Mione; got a boyfriend?"

Hermione slapped him gently in the chest, ignoring the displeased growl that came from Mia, as she rolled her eyes, "not gonna happen, Fred," she replied before they both were interrupted by a soft giggle and an awkward cough.

Fred and Hermione turned to see Alice and Frank watching them with amused glances. Hermione's face flooded with heat as she shook of Fred's grip on her shoulders and hesitantly made her way forward. "Hi," she said softly when she came to stand before Alice and Frank, "I'm…"

Before she could finish her sentence, Hermione was crushed to Alice in a grip that was much stronger than the petite woman seemed capable of. "We know exactly who you are, Hermione," she said softly, "our Neville talks about you often. When he's not talking about Aurora, of course."

"We can't thank you enough for what you've done for our son," Frank said as his arms wrapped around her and Alice, "and we're happy we're getting the chance to finally meet you in person."

"Though, we wish it were on better circumstances," Alice continued sadly, "I'm sorry you've found yourself here, Hermione."

They all stood back from one another and Hermione took the time to get her thoughts sorted before she took in a deep breath and addressed the entire room. "I think I can get you all out of here," she said quickly, not wanting to stumble over her words due to her nerves.

Everyone became quiet before two calloused hands were grabbing her and turning her to face a very hopeful looking Fred Weasley. "Are you serious?" he asked.

"Of course, I'm not Sirius; I'm Hermione."

Fred blinked at her a few times before a grin just about split his face. "Did you just make a joke?" he asked, "blimey; never thought I'd live long enough to see Hermione Granger make a joke; and  _that_ joke of all things. Didn't that drive you barmy?"

Hermione shrugged, "just trying to defuse the tension. And, yes, I'm very much serious. I think I've found a way to release those trapped beyond the Veil; but we need to get to the Ministry of Magic first."

A small squeak left her lips when Fred suddenly swooped down to kiss her. It was a quick, excited kiss, that was over before it began and drew a very loud, very displeased growl from her wolf who stepped out of the corner and put herself between Hermione and a very startled Fred.

"Mia, you need to calm down," Hermione told the growling wolf as she tried to get over her own surprise, "it didn't mean anything."

_Only our mate gets to his us,_ Mia growled inside her head.

"We've kissed plenty of people over the last decade; slept with just as many and you've had no problem," Hermione retorted, ignoring the choking sound coming from Fred who was looking at her with wide eyes.

_We weren't ready for our mate then; they meant nothing to either of us. Just a way to relieve stress, nothing more._

"Fred's my friend," she argued back, "he was just excited; it meant nothing." Hermione turned to look at Fred, "right, Fred?"

He nodded silently, eying the wolf cautiously.

_If he kisses us again, I'm going to bite him where it'll hurt the most._

"Whatever," Hermione answered with a roll of her eyes as she turned to everyone. "Uh, so, first we should discuss the wolf in the room," she began as she scratched the back of her neck sheepishly, "you see, Mia is me."

"I'm not following," Alice replied, her eyebrows furrowed as she stood close to her husband.

Hermione closed her eyes, preparing herself for the negative reactions of those around her when she finally answered. "I'm a werewolf," she replied, her heart dropping when she heard Alice gasp, "and Mia is the physical embodiment of my wolf; she appeared when I woke up in this dimension and will disappear when we leave."

"Oh, darling."

The young witch was suddenly pulled into another hug and she felt a tear fall from her eye when Alice didn't even hesitate to hold her. She had expected them to be scared or even repulsed by her. She should have known better; these two had been friend with Remus, knew about his lycanthropy and hadn't rejected him. But, they had also grown up with Remus; they knew nothing about Hermione except what Neville had told them.

"She's beautiful," Alice whispered into her ear.

_Oh, I like her,_ Mia said smugly,  _she knows what she's talking about._

"Now," Alice said as she pulled back, "let's get out of this place, shall we?"

* * *

The screams only seemed to get worse and Harry had been forced to put up a silencing charm when it looked like the screams were causing Holland physical pain. Aurora and Neville were sitting on the loveseat and Remus and Harry had taken to pacing in the library. Ron and Cassie were still out looking for anyone that could tell them where Greyback might have taken Hermione and Lavender was upstairs with Pomona and the other women.

Suddenly, a large stallion appeared in the room and Harry stopped pacing to look at his wife's Patronus. "Lucy says the forest you're looking for is…"

Harry barely waited for the Patronus to finish speaking before he disapparated.

He appeared a moment later in the forest that had been mentioned; a forest he was somewhat familiar with because of a previous mission a few years back. However, it certainly didn't look the same as it had back then. For one, all the trees were completely decimated and there was a large crater in the middle of it all. The entire forest was gone and Harry could just make out the remains of an old building that was now completely destroyed.

With a rapidly sinking heart, Harry made his way down the crater. It was wider than the Quidditch stadium at the QWC and at its center was a small body laying lifeless.

"Hermione," he breathed as he stumbled forward, falling to his knees beside the body of his best friend. "No, no, no, no," he cried as he looked her over, not even noticing her state of undress, "no, you can't be gone. Come on, 'Mione; you can't leave me, not again."

He cast the only diagnostic spell he knew and waited for the longest few seconds of his life before his body slumped over when he saw the small, barely there  _blip_ that was Hermione's heart. Tears were falling from his eyes, landing on her dirt stain face that was a very concerning tinge of grey. Harry placed an arm behind her back and the other under her legs before he picked her up and cradled her as closely to him as he could managed.

"You're going to be okay," he whispered to her softly, "you're too strong not to be."

Then he was gone; taking his best friend with him and leaving the ashy remains of the pack that he hadn't even notice.

* * *

Hermione, Mia, Fred, Alice, and Frank entered the Ministry of Magic without any problem or hesitation. Well, Hermione hesitated a bit but that was entirely due to how excited Mia seemed to be at finally being at the MoM. Hermione knew all too well that her mate was supposed to be within the halls of the Ministry and she didn't know if she actually wanted to find him.

It wasn't that she didn't want to find her mate; it was that she was scared of how she would feel. Would she be some simpering looney wanting to please her mate at all time? Merlin, she hoped not; Hermione didn't want this mate bond to change who she was as a person. She didn't want to have a mate who believed he could control every aspect of her life. It was rare that a mate abused the bond but it did happen and the results weren't pretty for anyone involved; in fact, there were cases when the wolf would kill the mate to escape the abuse before the realization of what they did would hit them and they would become insane.

She didn't want that. She never wanted that.

"Hermione, dear, are you coming?"

Hermione looked up to see Alice looking at her concernedly before she nodded her head and followed the small group into the MoM. She shivered as they entered the familiar building, remembering the last time she had been there during the war. Hermione forced the thoughts away, knowing now wasn't the best time to have an episode.

Fred was in the lead, followed by Frank and Alice with Hermione and Mia taking up the rear of their small group. Hermione felt twitchy as they walked through the halls and seeing Mia eagerly looking around wasn't helping her either. She felt like someone was watching her and it was putting her on edge.

Hermione shook her head, ignoring the feeling as best she could as they continued through the halls of the MoM.

* * *

Harry appeared in the library of Grimmauld place and the moment everyone saw who was in his arms there was chaos. Remus was the first to rush forward, moving faster than anyone had seen him move in years; his eyes flashing a pale yellow as he looked down at Hermione before he removed his coat and covered her naked frame. Holland wasn't far behind Remus, his own eyes flashing a brilliant gold as he looked over his unconscious pack mate and alpha.

"Is she…" he tried to ask, his voice breaking and unable to finish the sentence as he tried to listen to her heart.

"She's alive," Harry told them as Neville came forward and took Hermione out of his arms before Harry collapsed into he nearest chair, his head buried in his hands, "barely," he finished.

"What happened?" Remus asked as Aurora and Neville rushed from the room to find somewhere to put Hermione. Remus could hear Aurora shouting for Pomona even through the silencing charm and heard Lavender and Ginny's distressed cries when they must have caught sight of Hermione.

"I have no idea," Harry said, "when I got there, the forest was completely gone and Hermione was at the bottom of this massive crater."

"Her magic expelled," Holland answered them all as he too sat down heavily, "you said yourself that the process had been started and Hermione must have gotten Lucy as far away as she could from her when she realised what was going on."

"There shouldn't have been a body if that had happened," Remus said, "the magical outburst alone would have decimated everything in sight including Hermione."

"Believe me," Harry replied gravely, "it completely decimated everything in sight; the  _entire_ forest was gone."

"Then how is Hermione alive?" Remus questioned.

Holland growled angrily at the older wolf, "what's it matter how she's alive? She's still  _dying_! I can hear her heart slowing down even through that stupid silencing charm! Like Lavender said, no one has ever lived through something like this."

Suddenly, his knees buckled and Holland fell to the floor with a sob, "why do I have to lose two mums'? How is that fair?"

Neither man knew how to reply to that question or how to offer the distraught pup comfort. How could they? When they themselves felt entirely hopeless.

* * *

He watched them as they made their way through the halls of the Ministry but couldn't help but keep his eyes planted on the woman in the back of the group. Even stuck in this hell as he was, he was still a man and could appreciate a beautiful woman when she was walking around in clothes that showed more skin than they actually covered.

Her hair fell to the middle of her back in slightly frizzy curls and the tight tank top and little shorts showed off the very womanly curves the mystery woman possessed. His eyes wondered her form, taking in each curve his eyes laid on. He especially paid attention to her long, toned legs as she walked beside a large wolf that seemed to be looking around the place just as much as the witch herself.

He had seen a flash on ink on her side when her top had ridden up a little and couldn't deny that knowing this woman had a tattoo was a massive turn-on.

As he followed them, he kept to the shadows; having become familiar with them since he had arrived here. No one ever came to this part of the Ministry and it made him curious about what this group was doing here. He hadn't caught a glimpse of any of their faces; not wanting to be caught just because his curiosity got the best of him.

Of course, as he was studying the other three, he had taken his eyes off the woman long enough that when he looked back at her she was gone. He looked back down the hall to see if she had fallen behind on to stiffen when he felt the air move behind him.

He barely managed to duck the fist that came at the back of his head before he felt a foot strike at the back of his knees and he stumbled out of his hiding place. The group had stopped and he could have sworn he was seeing things when he looked into the faces of Fred Weasley and Alice and Frank Longbottom but he didn't have much time to think of that when a small foot was suddenly coming at his face.

When he had been rebelling against his family, he had decided the ultimate kick in the teeth would be having the ability to defend himself without their precious magic. So, he had taken up self-defense lessons and had learnt that he actually really enjoyed it. Not only was it good for his body, and his developing six pack certainly drew the right gazes from the opposite sex, but it was the perfect way to relieve stress.

However, he had never actually had a use for it until the petite creature he had been so enamored by had begun to attack him with an agility and strength that he had rarely seen from anyone that small.

He caught the foot just before it managed to hit him in the face and found himself even more turned-on by the fact she had no trouble balancing with one leg suspended in the air. Of course, his distraction was enough to get a fist to the chest and he stumbled back with a cough, dropping her foot in the process.

"Hermione!"

That certainly got his attention and he looked at the woman just in time to see her crouch down and sweep his feet out from beneath him. She was on top of him the next second, and he finally got his first good look at her face and couldn't believe what he was seeing.

"Holy shit," he exclaimed as the petite witch pinned him to the floor, his hands pinned above his head as the young woman growled lowly at him. He really shouldn't have found the sound as attractive as he had but that was neither here nor there as she glared fiercely at him.

"Kitten?" he tried softly, hoping the nickname he had used on here when she was younger might break her out of whatever daze she had found herself in.

Her eyes seemed to clear a little but it wasn't his eyes that they snapped to; instead, it was to the wolf she had been travelling with. He watched as her eyes darted from the wolf to him and then back to the wolf again.

"Sirius?" came the voice of one Fred Weasley and he managed to look around the surprised woman to grin at the redheaded trickster.

"Sirius?!" came the surprised voices of Alice and Frank Longbottom.

The three voices seemed to snap Hermione out of her daze and she sat back up as Sirius met her gaze again. Her eyes seemed to take him all in before she once again looked back to the wolf and Sirius could see horrified realization fill her eyes.

"You've got to be fucking kidding me!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There you go. What do you think? Like it? Love it? Hate it? Why? How did you think Sirius and Hermione's meeting was? Honestly, I had planned for it to go like this when I first started writing this story and just didn't want to change it. We will get more Sirius and Hermione interaction in the next chapter and I hope you guys stick around for that.


	8. Chapter Eight

Sirius knew that hearing the Gryffindor Golden Girl swear shouldn't have been as arousing as it was. However, he was a man, and having a very beautiful woman straddling him as she used such language had his body reacting before he could do anything about it. He knew he should have been embarrassed, or at least ashamed, that Hermione was making him hard. He probably also should have felt ashamed that his not-so-little problem didn't go unnoticed by the curly-haired witch sitting on top of him. However, Sirius only found himself more excited; especially when the scent of her own arousal reached his sensitive nose.

He watched as Hermione turned as very appealing shade of red, his eyes following her blush before it vanished beneath her shirt, before she practically flew from on top of him; putting as much distance as she could between them, much to Sirius' displeasure.

"Really, Sirius?" Alice scolded him lightly; her own cheeks pink as she avoided looking anywhere but his face.

Sirius gave her an innocent look as he got to his feet. "What?" he asked as he shrugged slightly, "it's a natural reaction to a beautiful woman." As he said that, Sirius turned to wink at Hermione whose face darkened a few more shades before she raised her hands and covered her face, shaking her head. "Come on, kitten," Sirius teased, "don't get shy on me now."

"Some things never change," Frank snorted; earning a swat to the chest from his wife for his comment.

Alice, Frank, and Sirius looked at each other for a long moment before they all smiled widely and rushed to embrace. "Alice and Frank," Sirius laughed, "never thought I'd see you two again after everything that's happened."

"Us?" Alice scoffed as she buried her head in Sirius chest only to back away slightly when Mia growled at her. She eyed the wolf wearily before turning back to smile at her old friend, "I never thought I'd see the day when Sirius Black got his arse kicked by a girl."

Sirius scoffed but otherwise didn't say anything as he and Frank embraced before the three of them turned to Hermione and Fred. Hermione's blush was slowly beginning to recede but she seemed determined to keep her distance from Sirius who frowned at her behavior. "Hello, Fred," Sirius smiled sadly, "can't say I'm too happy to be seeing you here." His eyes moved to Hermione who was keeping Fred between him and her like a human shield, "you too, Mia."

"It's not like either of us chose to be here, mate," Fred replied, eying Hermione curiously as she clung to his arm, "last thing I remember is a wall exploding and being buried underneath it. Woke up here and been trapped ever since."

"And you?" Sirius asked, his gaze never leaving Hermione even as he felt the wolf rub against him in an almost cat-like manner.

Hermione shrugged, not meeting his gaze and making the older man's frown deepen. "Some things happened and here I am," she answered simply. Sirius watched her eyes dart to the wolf before her shoulders sagged and she let out a heavy breath. "At lot's happened since you fell through the veil, Sirius," she continued softly, "things have changed. It's a long story and we don't have time for it right now; we need to get out of here."

"We're going to talk about this later," he told her sternly, eying her up and down before he dropped the subject and followed everyone as they continued towards the Department of Mysteries.

The whole time, Sirius couldn't take his eyes off of Hermione and the tantalizing way her hips would sway side to side as she walked.

* * *

Hermione knew Mia wasn't happy with her choice to ignore Sirius but the wolf also understood that the witch was very close to another panic attack and hadn't brought anything up because of that. She still couldn't wrap her mind around everything that had happened in the last few minutes.

_Hermione was ready to knock out whoever had been following them when she heard Mia's mental sigh of contentment. Vaguely, Hermione heard the others behind her talking to the man pinned beneath her and Hermione took a moment to actually the study the man. Elation filled her as she recognized Sirius Black; the man hadn't changed at all since he had fallen through the veil and Hermione was thrilled that she would be able to give Harry his Godfather back. She knew how much family meant to Harry and if she could do this for him that everything that had happened so far would certainly be worth it._

_**Finally,** Mia sighed happily,  **we've found him.**_

_The elation was replaced with confusion, then dread, then straight up horror as she realized what Mia was talking about. Her eyes darted between her wolf and the man pinned beneath her._

_Sirius Black. Notorious womanizer. Heir to one of the oldest Pureblood houses in Wizarding Britain. Ex-convicted felon, however false the allegation. Her best friends Godfather._

_Sirius Black was her mate._

_"You've got to be fucking kidding me!"_

She shook her head of the memory and kept her eyes trained forward as they drew closer to the Department of Mysteries. Goosebumps appeared on her arms as she past the dark alcove that had featured in one of her dreams; her mind replacing the shadowy figure of her unknown mate with Sirius and Hermione recoiled as her body physically reacted to the sensations the dream had provoked in her.

Even as a teenager, Hermione had crushed on Sirius; the rebellious older man a regular guest star in many of her teenage dreams that left her sweaty and frustrated when she woke up the next morning.

A large part of Hermione, the logical part of her, told her that teenage crushes and a mate's bond was not enough for a relationship. She wanted love, romance, and  _passion_ ; the kind of passion that ignited every part of your life. She didn't want to be expected to love someone simply because her wolf had deemed them her  _perfect match_.

And she especially didn't want to love Sirius Black.

How could the fates possibly believe they were in any way, perfect for each other? Sirius was a rich, flirtatious, womanizer who probably had more notches of his bedpost than anyone else she knew.

Not that Hermione was in any way a prude. She hadn't been lying when she had mention having a handful of lovers and her bedroom adventures teetered on the edge of being a  _50 Shades of Grey_  novel. She was sure everyone expected her sex life to reflect the bookworm she had always been associated with being. They expected her to be plain and by the book; but Hermione had changed a lot over the years and her love life reflected that as well as her personality.

Her bedroom activities, however, did not mean that Hermione wasn't seeking a relationship filled with love. She wanted to fall hopelessly in love and have that love returned in full. The mate bond was basically a shackle; not only for her, but for poor Sirius as well.

_'No,'_ she thought to herself,  _'I can ignore the bond and allow us to move on with our separate lives.'_

Sirius could sleep with as many witches as he desired before he finally decides to settle down; if he ever decides to settle down. Hermione may not ever find love herself, but there were things that could come a close second that she could use as the foundations for a relationship. Right?

**"Don't you dare,"**  Mia snarled behind her and Hermione could feel the heated glare of her wolf as they continued down the hall.

However, Hermione didn't care. Her whole life had been dictated for her in one way or another and she refused to let this be another thing she had no control over. She was also pretty sure Sirius would never willingly choose to settle down with his Godson's best friend when he would likely have so many willing witches throwing themselves at him once he returned.

**"He is ours,"** Mia growled,  **"no one but us will have him."**

_That's not your decision to make,_  Hermione replied mentally,  _Sirius has been trapped in one way or another for most of his life; the last thing he needs is to be trapped in a relationship. Would you really be so cruel as to force him to be with us?_

She heard Mia whine sadly behind her and stopped to turn to her wolf. Mia hadn't left Sirius' side since earlier and she could see the older man looking at the wolf in concern as she flattened her ears and tucked her tail between her legs. "Hey," he soothed softly, crouching before her wolf who whined softly, "what's wrong, girl?"

Hermione watched the way Sirius interacted with her wolf and felt her heart swell a little only to quickly tamper down the building emotions. She wouldn't do this; not to her and not to Sirius.

"What's wrong with your familiar, Mia? And what happened to Crookshanks?" Sirius asked, his eyes raising to meet her own.

She stiffened at the first question; she hadn't really wanted to tell Sirius that she was a werewolf even though she knew he would understand. His best friend was a werewolf after all but that didn't mean she wanted to be looked upon with pity or even suspicion. Whether she had decided to ignore the bond or not, Hermione didn't think she could handle Sirius outright rejecting her if he found out what she was and what he was to her.

"Mia isn't Hermione's familiar; she's the physical embodiment of Hermione's werewolf side."

Hermione closed her eyes a sighed heavily as Fred's voice filtered from behind her. She didn't want to look at Sirius and she certainly didn't want to look at Mia; Hermione couldn't bear to see the heartbroken look in her wolf's eyes and knew that's exactly what she would see there if she did.

"Werewolf?" Sirius asked before the air shifted in front of her and two large, warm hands fell on her shoulders. Hermione could feel the callouses on his fingers and tried to ignore the way his skin on hers made her whole body tingle. There was a part of her that wanted to pull him into one of the dark alcoves and recreate one of her dreams. She wanted to feel his lips on hers; wanted to see how his body felt pressed against her own. But Hermione knew the feelings weren't her own; they were because of the mate bond.

**"Stop lying to yourself, witch,"**  Mia huffed,  **"you're not fully connected to your wolf side at the moment. Anything you feel towards our mate is completely on you; not the bond."**

Hermione shook her head; there was no way Mia was telling the truth. Her reaction had to be because of the mate bond; she didn't think she could handle it being anything else.

"Mia, look at me," Sirius said, his warm breath fanning over her face and making her breath hitch. She shook her head, her eyes tightly closed as she tried to focus on anything except how close he was to her. "Hermione," he repeated, his voice lower and with a hint of authority behind it. She felt her body react to the sound, warmth flooding her belly and her body itching to be closer.

The dream of her and her mate in the woods returned to her and Hermione could now clearly see Sirius' face. She could clearly see his naked body; the muscles he possessed as her eyes darted to each of his tattoos. Her center dampened at the mental image of the older man naked before her and only increased as her mind replayed the way he sounded as he groaned when he thrusted into her for the first time.

Unknown to the petite brunette, Sirius could smell the heady scent of her arousal and felt his cock twitch in his pants as he took in a subtle breath. Ever since he had successfully completed his animagus transformation; Sirius' senses had all been heightened. He had smelt the arousal of many women and yet, Hermione's was certainly the most appealing. Her vanilla scent was sweet to his nose but it had nothing on the spicy scent of her arousal and Sirius seriously considered abandoning his carefully constructed control and pressing her to the nearest wall so he could ravish her.

However, his mind kept his urges at bay with reminders that the woman before him was the same  _girl_  he had remembered from Hogwarts. Sirius had always admired her intelligence but he had never seen her as anything other than Harry's best friend. That image was slowly crumbling in his mind; being replaced by the beautiful woman standing in front of him, now; a woman who was less than a decade younger than him.

He also hadn't missed the way her scent spiked when his voice lowered, wanting her to look at him so they could talk this through. Sirius looked past Hermione and motioned for the others to go ahead, knowing that Fred knew how to get where they needed to go. When they disappeared down the hall, Sirius returned his gaze to the woman who had yet to open her eyes.

Hermione startled when she felt Sirius' calloused hand move from her shoulder to her cheek, her eyes snapping open involuntarily as they widened.

"Talk to me, Mia," he said softly, his grey eyes never leaving her amber ones, "when did you become a werewolf? Was it… was it Mooney?" he asked unsurely.

She shook her head, watching as his shoulders sagged from relief. Hermione knew what he was thinking; Remus would have never forgiven himself if he had been the one to bite and turn Hermione. Hell, Remus was so opposed to his wolf that he was killing himself trying to suppress his natural instincts. He had almost lost it when Hermione had asked him if he was ever going to mark Tonks as his mate. It was rare for werewolves not to mark their mates after being together for so long; especially when Hermione knew Tonks wouldn't have a problem with it. In fact, Tonks had told her that when she had asked for the mark, Remus had practically ignored her for an entire week before telling her to never bring it up again.

"It wasn't Remus," she assured him verbally, "it was a young wolf named Andrew; he got free of the older wolves in the pack and found me wandering the woods."

"How long?" Sirius asked. He already knew time worked differently within the veil and that many years would have passed since he had fallen through it if how old Hermione looked was anything to go by.

"Almost ten years," she replied quietly, "a few months after the war ended."

Sirius stiffened but gave her a nod and dropped the subject; for now. Instead, he absentmindedly rubbed her cheek with the pad of his thumb, not missing the way Hermione leaned into the touch.

"Why is your wolf upset?" he asked after a moment, watching as Hermione stiffened completely.

"It's nothing," she replied quickly; too quickly.

"Hermione…"

"Just drop it, Sirius," she practically growled, pulling away from him as he frowned, "we need to catch up with the others," she muttered, turning and walking away before he could say anything.

Sirius watched her disappear down the hall before he turned to look at Mia who still had her ears flattened and her tail between her legs. "It's okay, girl," he soothed, patting her gently on the head and watching as her body relaxed under his hold, "I'll get it outta her eventually."

And he would, because there was something different about Hermione Granger and Sirius was  _very_  excited to find out just what that was.

* * *

Harry, Remus, Ron, Neville, and Holland were waiting anxiously in the library. It had been two days since Harry had brought Hermione back to Grimmauld Place and whilst her condition hadn't gotten worse, it hadn't gotten better either. The entire time that Poppy and Lavender worked on her, Hermione showed no signs of life except the shaky rise and fall of her chest as she wheezed.

Aurora had returned to work, as had Tonks and Cassie, but all three had threatened the men with some very creative curses if they didn't inform them the moment something changed with Hermione. Ginny kept herself busy with Lucy and baby Luka; James was fascinated by the small baby and the idea that in a few short weeks his mommy would be having one that he spent most of his time with the two women and the newborn.

Holland barely ate and Harry had taken to forcefully feeding the teenager to get him to do so. He knew all too well that Hermione would curse his bollocks off if the teenager passed out from lack of food or water.

Hermione. Harry hadn't told any of the men except Ron just how bad of a condition Hermione was in. He knew keeping it from them wasn't okay but Harry himself didn't want to believe what Poppy had told him.

Hermione was dying; and she was dying quickly. Her magic was so severely depleted that her body was working overtime to try and refill her energy stores but the strain was just too much for the young witch. Poppy didn't know what more to do for her either; potions and spells would only get them so far but there was just so much damage done to her internal organs from the explosion that it would be a miracle if she did wake up after everything. Even if she did wake up; Hermione would have to retrain her magic and it would be a long time until she was even at a NEWT level again.

Harry looked up when Ginny walked into the room, James cradled to the side of her body as she stumbled a little. "He wanted his daddy," she said softly as she made her way over to Harry and gently handed James over to him, "he's been talking Lucy's ear off for most of the afternoon and the poor dear was completely tired. She and Luka are sleeping now and I'm thinking about taking a nap; do you mind watching James?"

"Of course not," Harry assured his wife, placing a soft kiss on her lips and pulling away to see her smiling softly, "get some sleep, Gin."

"Wake me up if anything changes with Hermione."

"I promise," he replied before he settled a yawning James on his lap and watched Ginny leave the library.

Harry frowned as he watched his wife go, his heart sinking as he tried to figure out just how to tell the rest of them that there was a large chance Hermione wouldn't pull through.

* * *

"I'm surprised we haven't come across any wraiths yet."

Sirius' statement had everyone pausing to look at the Black heir. Hermione frowned deeply at the predatory sensation she had been feeling for a while now. Could it be one of these wraiths that Sirius was speaking about?

"Why do you say that, Sirius?" Alice asked cautiously, "wraiths aren't that common even in the Veil."

"They are here," Sirius replied. "The closer you get to the Veil the more wraiths you see. They hang out nearby, waiting for a Fisher so they can squeeze through for a couple of hours until it closes and they're stuck here again."

Wraiths. Ghosts. Poltergeist. They were all similar in one way or another. Wraiths were angry souls who wanted nothing more than to hurt anyone they could find. Hermione had personally never seen one but she had read about them at Hogwarts and it had given her nightmares for a week. Wraiths were souls that were so deformed and dark that they were basically a festering wound that infected everything around them. In the realm of the living, wraiths could be so dangerous that they could cause the death of those they were pursuing.

"Have you encountered one before?" Fred asked from where he stood beside Hermione.

Sirius shook his head, "nah, just seen them floating about the place. You can usually feel them coming so I try to blend in with the shadows so they can't see me."

"Well this is just bloody perfect," Hermione frowned.

Fred chuckled at the petite brunette, "careful, 'Mione, you don't wanna start sounding like Ron, do ya?"

Hermione sent a glare to the redhead before she folded her arms over her chest and huffed. "Getting out of here was going to be hard enough without the added stress that the wraiths will provide," she muttered, "in fact, this could be a huge problem."

"How so?" Frank asked curiously.

The petite witch didn't look any of them in the eyes as she found a sudden interest in her feet. "Because tonight is a blood moon," she mumbled quietly.

"So?" Fred questioned.

"We can only get out of the Veil during the blood moon. If we miss our window of opportunity we'll be stuck here until the next one."

Sirius walked up to the dejected witch and placed a comforting hand on her shoulder, ignoring the way her body stiffened. "It's okay, kitten," he told her softly, "if we don't make it through, we'll just wait for the next one. There's no problem there."

She looked up at him and Sirius grew concerned at the misty eyed looked she gave him.

"I can't wait that long," she whispered as she gripped the bottom of her tank top and lifted it enough to expose her stomach to their eyes.

Sirius felt his heart stop at the sight of the Black veins running up her body.

"My physical body is weakening, Sirius, I'm dying and I need to get you all out of here before it's too late."

* * *

The first time Hermione's body began convulsing it was like Harry's heart stopped and his lungs seized. He watched helplessly as her body contorted unnaturally even as Lavender and Poppy tried to keep her as still as possible so she wouldn't hurt herself. Ginny was pressed to his side, her face buried in his neck as she cried silently; not wanting to distract the two witches working on trying to help Hermione.

_I can't lose her,_ he thought to himself as he pulled Ginny closer,  _not again. None of us can._

They had always taken Hermione for granted in school. They never really appreciated everything she did for them until she was no longer there. Harry had felt lost without her for so long that everyone had grown worried. It had taken Ginny hexing him to get him out of his funk and years for him to learn how to live with the guilt of just how much he had depended on Hermione without ever thanking her for the things she had done for him. She had always been there; until she suddenly… wasn't.

"She's burning up," he heard Lavender mumble to Poppy; tears in her eyes as she tried to figure out how to help her friend and alpha.

"Her temperature is the least of our worries, Miss Brown," Poppy replied crisply, "if we don't stabilise her soon, Miss Granger's heart is going to…"

Hermione stopped moving, her chest rising and falling weakly almost like nothing had happened. Lavender and Poppy stared down at the witch and Harry could see that neither healer had any idea what just happened.

They had thought it was over than but her body went into convulsions three more times that day and each time they stopped on their own like nothing bad ever happened. Of course, when Poppy ran the diagnostic spells they learnt that wasn't the case. After each convulsion, Hermione's organs were weaker; her heart beat had slowed down so much that, has she not been a werewolf, Poppy had guaranteed she would have died. One of her kidneys had already shut down and her right lung was trying to make up for the much weaker left one.

What concerned Harry the most was that during one of the diagnostic spells, Hermione had shown signs of being brain dead. It had only lasted a few seconds but they had been the longest few seconds of his life.

Harry and Ron found themselves alone in her room later that day; both of them sitting either side of her bed and the each held one of her pale hands. Ginny was getting Holland and James to eat and Poppy and Lavender were resting so they could recuperate their spent magic. Neville had returned home and Remus had been fearlessly pacing the library until it was time for him to pick Teddy up from Andromeda's.

"She's gonna make it."

Harry looked up at Ron as his best friend spoke, his blue eyes downcast as she rubbed little circles into Hermione's hand. He wanted to believe what Ron was saying but the lameness of her skin and the almost lifeless way she lay on the bed had all hope crumbling inside of him.

"Ron…"

His friend shook his head, his eyes snapping up to Harry to glare at him. "She's going to make it," he said firmly, "we're not giving up on her."

"No one's giving up on her, mate," Harry replied softly.

Ron ran the fingers of his free hand through his hair as he squeezed Hermione s hand with the other. "It's Malfoy manor all over again," he whispered dejectedly, "she's suffering and there's nothing we can do about it."

"And just like back then, she's gonna make it through this," Harry said firmly, hoping to convince them both, "she's stronger than both of us; she won't let this beat her."

"And than what? We still haven't found any sight of Greyback and we have no idea if he died in that explosion. What if he comes for her and she can't defend herself?"

"Then he'll have a hell of a time getting through everyone who will be lining up to protect her. Ten years might have gone by but she's still our Hermione; she's our family and we're not gonna let him get her. Not again."

Both men fell silent, both of them praying that their best friend would make it out of this alive.

* * *

"Okay, there it is."

Hermione and Fred were the first to step into the room; followed by Alice and Frank, and than a very reluctant Sirius and Mia. She could feel the Black veins moving up her stomach and could now see the thin tendrils poking out of the top of her tank top. Hermione was steadfastly ignoring the worried glances being thrown at her as she looked around and breathed a sigh of relief when she spotted no wraiths around the area.

**"** **This is too easy."**

She wanted to grown at the words spoken by her wolf.  _You've probably just jinxed the entire thing,_ she grumbled in her head.

They all watched the Veil; waiting for any sign that the moon was where it needed to be. When the eerie blue/silver swirls began to turn a blood red, she sucked in a deep breath.  _It's time._

"Stay here and wait for my signal," she whispered to the others before she quickly ran across the room and towards the Veil. She needed to find a Fisher, a tear in the fabric of the Veil that they could get through. The only time a soul that wasn't a wealth could pass through the Veil was on a blood moon according to the runes she had been translating. It would be uncomfortable, especially for Sirius considering his physical body had disappeared into the Veil as well as his soul. It'd be like apparating but ten times worse.

When Hermione found the Fisher, she could have cried. Instead, she grabbed on to it, ignoring the burning sensation that began in her fingers, and began to pull the Fisher apart to make it wider. It hurt, a lot, but Hermione was the only one close enough to death for the Veil not to register her as a threat. The whole point of it was to keep souls trapped away and the others were strong enough that the Veil would have sent them as far away from possible just to keep them there.

She was dying. She could feel it as she pulled the Fisher apart further. But she didn't care, she had been prepared to die so many times that the only regret she had was that Mia would die with her and they'd be leaving their pup behind.

_Remus will protect him,_ she assured herself, even as her heart began to break.

She felt a warm body press against her leg and smiled down at Mia as the wolf offered her silent comfort. Hermione knew she had been lucky that her wolf was as stable as Mia was; the wolf could have been insane and she would have followed soon after.

_I hope Lucy's Okay,_ she thought,  _I hope she made it to Harry._

Hermione shook her head and focused on her task. When she was done, she called for Fred who wasted no time in reaching her side.

"It's going to hurt," she warned as the burning increased the moment the Veil realized a stronger soul was near it.

He nodded, "I can handle it."

"No matter what, keep going forward. Think of your family; anything to make it easier. Think of George. Now, go."

And he did.

* * *

George was doing exactly what he had done every day for the last ten years. He was sitting beside Fred's hospital bed, his head in his hands as he focused on the sound of his brothers steady breathing. Once again, the healers had asked him if he would consider taking his brother off if magical life support and, once again, it had ended with George red in the face and screaming every insult he knew at them. Fred wouldn't have given up on him and there was no way he was giving up on his twin.

"You gotta wake up, Freddy," he whispered hoarsely; his eyes filled with unskilled tears as he recited the speech he knew off by heart. Every day, without fail, he would have this same conversation with his brother; and everyday it was the same result. Fred remained in the coma and George remained alone and without his other half.

"It's been ten years, mate. We promised we'd never go where the other can't follow and right now you're making that real hard. Don't let that time in sixth year be the last time we get to see each other old."

He took in a shuddering breath as he felt the tears fall over his pale cheeks. "We're not done yet. We  _can't_  be done yet," he whispered as he began to cry freely.

"Of course, we're not done yet, Georgie. Can't believe you think I'd deprive the world of my handsome face. Besides, I still haven't got Minnie to let me take her on a date yet; I'm sure she's warming up to me."

George fell out of his chair at the hoarse voice that spoke out in the near silent room. His eyes snapped up to see his brother smirking weakly at him and George let loose a very unmanly sound before he was tackling his brother to the bed. Fred's arms wrapped around him as best he could with the little strength he had as he felt his twin sobbing against him, his tears soaking Fred's neck.

The healer nearby had been alerted to them by George's squeal and Fred could see him openly gaping at the two brothers before he dropped the chart he was holding and ran down the hall. Before long, Fred's room was full of healers crowding around him and asking him question as he was fed potion after potion; each one tasting worse than the previous one.

He had already seen George's Patronus leaving the room and wasn't surprised when a shrill scream pierced the air that had all the healers scrambling away from him just as his mother practically tackled him to the bed again.

"My baby," she cried, "y-you're Okay!"

"Better than okay, mum," he assured her; hugging her tightly now that the potions had restored most of his strength, "though, you're kinda crushing me."

Molly's laugh was more of a sob and if Fred was thinking his father would help him out; his lack of oxygen as the man hugged him just as tightly said otherwise. It wasn't long before his other brothers and little sister joined them for a very big, very loud Weasley reunion.

Fred couldn't help but smile.

* * *

Hermione felt when Fred's soul made it out of the Veil and sighed in relief before she motioned for Frank and Alice to come forward. They did so, hand in hand; their faces hopeful and cautious at the same time.

She smiled as reassuringly as she could manage through the pain. "It's going to be Okay," she assured them, "it won't be pleasant but a few moments of pain and you'll be reunited with your son."

Alice's eyes filled with tears. "We can never thank you enough, Hermione; your giving us our lives back," she breathed through her tears.

"I'm just sorry I can't do anything about the time you lost," she replied softly.

"Any time spent with Neville is better than no time at all," Frank said before they both moved into the Veil and disappeared.

Hermione waited until she felt their souls vanish before she called for Sirius.

"I'm not leaving without you," he said the moment he stood in front of her, his hands crossed over his chest.

"You don't have a choice," she returned, "someone needs to hold open the Fisher and I'll be right behind you."

His grey eyes locked on her and Hermione had to remind herself to breathe. For a moment, she thought about closing the distance between them so she could see what it was like to kiss him. Only once. She even felt herself leaning forward before she forcefully stopped herself and turned her gaze back to the Veil.

"You better be right behind me, kitten," he suddenly breathed; his lips brushing her ear and making her shiver, "or I might just have to punish you."

Arousal flooded her body at his growled words before he suddenly stepped through the Veil. It took longer for his soul to be free of the Veil and when he was Hermione was about to follow.

A laugh pierced the air.

No. Not a laugh. A  _cackle_. A very familiar cackle that sent fear shooting straight through her body.

Mia began growling lowly as the temperature around them dropped by several degrees. Hermione whimpered; her fear freezing her in place even as her mind screamed at her to get through before it was too late. The moon would pass soon and she would be trapped until she ultimately died.

"Mmuuddbblloooodd," a deranged voice sang in a high pitch tone, "come and ppllaayy."

Hermione whimpered again only for it to turn into a pained gasp as long nails dug into her shoulder and turned her around to face…

"Bellatrix."

The deformed figure of the witch who had tortured her over a decade ago grinned before she jumped forward and Hermione was engulfed in darkness.

* * *

Harry had wanted to go with Ginny and Ron when they were informed that Fred had woken up but he knew someone needed to stay with Hermione. Even as Holland sat in the room with her as Lavender and Poppy worked tirelessly to help her; Harry couldn't find it in him to leave her.

He was just checking up on the three of them when Hermione went into convulsions again. They never lasted more than a few minutes but it was long enough to share the hell out of all of them. He watched her contorted and shift, her mouth open in a silent scream before she suddenly fell still.

Too still.

"What's going on?" Holland asked frantically, jumping from the chair he had been seated in as she ran to Hermione's bed, "why can't I hear her heart?"

The two women ignored him, shoving the young pup out if the way as Poppy began casting spell after spell and Lavender began performing CPR.

"Is she Okay?" Holland cried, "tell me she's Okay! Hermione!"

Harry wanted to comfort the teen but was frozen in place as he watched the two healers try to save his friend.

It was no use.

She was gone.

Hermione was dead.

* * *

**Authors note: I was going to leave it here. I really was. But I'm not that mean. Sometimes.**

* * *

Bellatrix's soul merging with her own was by far the worst experience of Hermione's life. Her soul was like poison, seeping into Hermione slowly. Her cackle still permeated the air as Bellatrix tried to kill her from the inside.

Somehow, Hermione found the strength to separate their souls and pushed the angry wraiths away from her as she stumbled against the stone arch that made up the Veil. Her breathing was heavy and her entire being felt like it was on fire.

She could see Bellatrix's childish pout through the mangled remains of the witch's soul and recoiled at the dark look in her eyes. Hermione's entire body was shaking and she could feel a panic attack rapidly approaching as she stared down the monster that had plagued her nightmares for the last decade. The burning in her arm had returned tenfold and Hermione whimpered again before she felt warm fur against her bare leg.

**You're not alone, witch,**  Mia told her gently,  **and this crazy bitch isn't going to hurt us again.**

Mia's words and presence gave Hermione strength and courage. She looked down at her hands and tried to find any trace of the magic she had used in the forest before everything had turned white.

_Please_ , she begged,  _just give me the power to overcome this._

**_What you ask for will come with a price,_**  came the whispered voice of the woman from her dreams.

_Anything._

**_Do not say such things so lightly, Guardian,_**  the woman scolded even as Hermione felt her body heating up,  ** _the price will be heavy and will come when you least expect. Death does not like to be cheated; no matter what purpose the saved soul may have in the future. I will help you now but know I cannot change what will happen later. Good luck, Guardian._**

Time seemed to unfreeze and Hermione saw Bellatrix lunge for her just as the light flared brightly and she was blown into the Veil; the last thing she heard was Bellatrix's pained scream before everything went black.

* * *

Five minutes.

Hermione had been dead for five minutes.

Harry felt numb as he watched Lavender try to comfort Holland even as she herself was grieving the loss of her friend and alpha. Poppy was covering Hermione with a sheet, her own tears spilling down her cheeks as she muttered nonsensically to herself. There was a loud crack downstairs moments before the alarm started going off but Harry couldn't muster the will to move.

All he could do was stare at the unmoving chest of his best friend.; his sister. He hadn't even told the others yet and was probably prolonging it due to shock and not wanting to spoil the happy moment they were having with a newly awoken Fred.

There were two more cracks and then two surprised yells before three pairs of feet were thundering up the stairs moments before the door burst open. Even in his cried, Holland moved faster than anyone; shielding Hermione from the new editions to the room as his eyes glowed a brilliant gold. His grief had allowed his wolf to take over with the sole purpose of protecting his alpha and mother.

"Kitten?"

Harry almost fell over at the sound of the familiar voice and turned quickly to see his Godfather leaning heavily against the frame of the door. He knew he was gaping but his Godfather didn't seem to pay him a single glance as his eyes stayed on Hermione.

Tonks was just behind him and Harry watched as Remus was barely able to catch his wife as she caught sight of Hermione's lifeless body. The sound that left Tonks' lips was a mix of a choke and a scream as her legs gave out on her. Her hand was covering her mouth as the other clung to Remus' shirt. The older wizard wasn't fairing any better and didn't seem to know where to look; at his newly resurrected friend or the young witch he had come to love as a daughter.

Sirius looked weary but it didn't stop him from stumbling towards Hermione's bed and shoving a still growling Holland away so he could see Hermione's face.

Remus watched his best friend fall to his knees before the young witch, whether from exhaustion or sorrow he didn't know. He watched Sirius raise a shaky hand and move a stray lock of her hair from her face. Remus had never seen Sirius' eyes so soft though he shouldn't have been surprised he supposed. He knew that Sirius had admired Hermione when she was still just a student at Hogwarts. He was certain that if Hermione had been older, Sirius would have pursued her in an instant. As much of a womanizer as his best friend was, Remus knew that Sirius had always wanted what James and Lily had had.

Unfortunately, Lily had set a pretty high standard for other women and Remus knew that even if Sirius hadn't felt anything but brotherly affection for the redhead, he had hoped to find a woman just like her. Someone who would challenge him in every aspect of his life and not be afraid to call him out on his shit. Someone who was beautiful, kind, caring but strong, independent, and fierce when she needed to be.

No, Remus wasn't surprised at the look in Sirius' eyes; but that didn't mean it didn't concern him. Hermione was a werewolf who had a mate; a mate she would never meet because she was  _dead_. Mooney howled sadly inside his head and Remus felt his heart crack as a tear fell from his eye.

"You gotta get up, kitten," Sirius whispered hoarsely, "I've got too many questions and you have to wake up an explain all this shit to me."

Hermione didn't move and Remus watched his friend sag forward.

Suddenly white light began to fill the room and when it vanished, Hermione sat up in her bed with a large gasp of air. She looked around the room unseeingly before she fell back against the bed and her eyes closed again.

Poppy ran forward quickly, her wand waving frantically as she cast multiple spells before she inhaled sharply.

"What? What is it?" Remus managed to get out when it became obvious everyone was holding their collective breath. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing," Poppy replied with a shake if her head, "nothing is wrong. Her kidney had restarted and her lungs are working at full strength once more. There doesn't seem to be any damage to her whatsoever. Except..."

"Except, what?"

"Hermione was dead for five minutes," she said tearily, "her brain was without oxygen for five minutes and there's signs of brain damage. I won't know what the extent is until she wakes up fully."

"But, she's Okay?" Harry managed to croak out.

Poppy gave him a soft smile, "she's fine, Mister Potter. Now, Sirius Black; if you don't get into a bed right now and let me check you over, I will personally hex you into oblivion!"

Sirius smiled tiredly as he stood up only to be tackled back to the ground by his Godson. "How?" Harry whispered into his chest as he cried; his arms tightening around the older man like he might disappear.

"You've got a very intelligent and very determined best friend," Sirius answered, "she got us all out like it was nothing."

Harry nodded, knowing Sirius would explain everything to him later after he had been checked over and had rested. He knew that he and Remus could have their reunions with Sirius later as well. He could wait, and he would never be able to pay Hermione back for she had done.

"Sirius Orion Black, what do you think you're doing?!"

"You told me to get into a bed."

"An  _empty_  bed!"

Harry shook his head with a fond smile as Sirius got out of Hermione's bed with a pout. Things were about to get really interesting.

He just didn't know how true that statement was going to be at the time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There you go everyone. I messed up in the last chapter with calling Poppy, Pomona but won't be able to fix it until I have my laptop. I'm currently working on my phone write now which wasn't the easiest thing to do but I managed because I wanted to give you guys anotherchapter. So, for my sake, please ignore any spelling errors or editing mistakes that I will fix when I get my laptop back.
> 
> What did you think? How did you like Sirius and Hermione's interaction in this chapter. Let me know below :)

**Author's Note:**

> Okay, that's it. The first chapter. Sorry for any spelling mistakes; I try my best to get them all but sometimes they slip passed me. Please leave Kudos and leave me a comment below xx


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